The James Logan Courier

ACTIVITIES:
Any boys interested in playing volleyball please come to Open Gym on Monday, Jan. 15, from 3-6 pm in the Old Gym.

Attention swimmers! Anyone interested in joining the swim team this year must attend the swim meeting right after school today in Room 475.

Reviewed by Jessica Stewart, Courier Book Editor

Blood Diamonds by Greg Campbell
Paperback: 280 pages
Publisher: Westview Press; Reprint edition (February 3, 2004)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0813342201
ISBN-13: 978-0813342207

“Ismael Dalramy lost his hands in 1996 with two quick blows of an ax. He didn’t—or couldn’t—recall the pain of the blows. But he remembered being ordered at gunpoint to place his wrists on a wooden stump dripping with the blood of his neighbors who were writhing on the found around him trying to stem the flow of blood from their arms or staggering away.”

With this gory introduction to his book, Greg Campbell pulls you in and refuses to let you go before he gets his message across to you. Sierra Leone was consumed by a war over diamonds for over a decade, with the RUF, Kamajors, and the government all fighting each other for power over tiny little stones. It is horrifying, engrossing, disgusting, and very well-researched. It is definitely an excellent read.

By Dana Llarena, Courier Staff Writer


Twilight by Stephenie Meyer
Hardcover: 512 pages
Publisher: Little, Brown Young Readers (October 5, 2005)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0316160172
ISBN-13: 978-0316160179

Isabella Swan, “Bella”, was your typical seventeen-year-old who left behind her mother and step dad in Phoenix to move back to Forks, Washington with her father.

While living in a town where it never stopped raining and going to a high school where the student body is less than 400, Bella adjusts herself to blend in with the other students. Being the new girl she felt uncomfortable being the center of attention, but after meeting some new friends as the day went by they all went to lunch. As soon as she enters the cafeteria she sees a group of five teenagers, sitting together at one table, one particularly caught her eye. His name was Edward Cullen.

By Ann Doss Helms
McClatchy Newspapers (MCT)

CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Tango and his two penguin daddies won't face a formal review from Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools, CMS officials said this week.

The district stirred up unwanted international coverage last month by banning "And Tango Makes Three," a picture book that some say promotes homosexuality. Superintendent Peter Gorman said top staffers mistakenly sidestepped CMS process and pulled the book from four elementary school libraries after a few parents and Mecklenburg County Commissioner Bill James questioned the controversial but true story.

Editor's Note: Each week, The Courier spotlights materials recently arrived, or soon-to-arrive, in the Media Center's collection.

Devil in the Details: Scenes From and Obsessive Girlhood, By Jennifer Traig
Publisher: Little, Brown and Company (September 14, 2004)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0316158771
ISBN-13: 978-0316158770
Hardcover: 256 pages

From www.hachettebookgroupusa.com:
Being a teenager is hard enough. Jennifer Traig's adolescence took angst to new heights, adding a layer of obsessive-compulsive drama that made ordinary mortifications like bad hairstyles and fashion errors feel like the good parts. Devil in the Details is her unforgettable, hilarious, wrenching account of growing up weird.

Jennifer Traig's adventures in obsession began at the age of twelve, when her religious studies introduced her to a body of rules that she hadn't known existed. This unleashed a level of religiosity completely alien to her upbringing. Psychiatrists call this disorder scrupulosity-her family just called it strange. Fervent prayer was only the beginning. On a given day, Jennifer might be putting all her possessions in the washing machine to cleanse them of the pork fumes emanating from the kitchen. Or clipping the lawn according to Old Testament regulations. Or covering her hair with Kleenex while she maintained her constant state of prayer.

Ethan Allen (January 21,1738 – February 12, 1789) was an early American revolutionary and guerrilla leader during the era of the Vermont Republic and the New Hampshire Grants. He fought against the settlement of Vermont by the Province of New York, and then for its independence in the American Revolutionary War.

Biography
Allen was born in Litchfield, Connecticut, the first child of Joseph and Mary Baker Allen. Ethan was the oldest of the eight children. He was the only one to be born in Litchfield, since the family moved to Cornwall shortly after his birth. His brother, Ira, figured prominently in the early history of Vermont. Joseph Allen was the leader of a rebellious group of land owners and speculators who held New Hampshire title to land grants in the New Hampshire Grants. New York, which held substantial claim to the area, refused to honor the New Hampshire titles and sold competing titles to different people, who generally did not live in Vermont. This led to open rebellion among the population in much of Vermont. In April of 1755, Joseph Allen died, leaving Ethan to take care of the family farm and title claims, which made him very upset.

Read Ethan Allen's essay Reason: The Only Oracle Of Man, A Compendious System Of Natural Religion, free from libertyonline.com.