Veronica Hernandez

-Tyla Ellis ( Incoming 9th grader) 

Divergent is a story written by Veronica Roth about a girl named Tris who lives in a world where everyone is split into five different factions that correspond to their personalities. This story takes place in a dystopian world in futuristic Chicago. However, Tris does not fit into any faction and she has to keep it a secret or else she could become factionless. This is called Divergent. Being Divergent means that you posses qualities which others pose as a threat. Everyone wants to get rid of you because you are unlike them. Tris is from the selfless faction called Abnegation however she chooses to switch to the brave faction called Dauntless. This is very rare. She has to learn how to be brave to fit in and conquer her fears. With the help of friends along the way she is able to become brave and conquer these fears which help her become a more confident version of herself. Tris is also able to keep it a secret that she is Divergent until the very end of the book where the Dauntless leaders will try to find Tris and remove her because they found out she is Divergent. I enjoyed this book because it was very intriguing. The story never got boring and was full of action. The book was very interesting and I think the rest of the series will carry a very action packed storyline.

Grace Earl ( Incoming 8th grader )

It was how Michael Arrayo is an immigrant from Cuba and has a big secret. He plays town ball and pitches. Michael pitches and so do I.  He throws 75 miles an hour and tries for 80 every once in a while.I play baseball myself so I thought it was an interesting topic. He has a friend named Manny who is the one of two people that know his secret. His secret is that his dad was a taxi driver in Florida for 2 weeks and died of a heart attack so him and his older brother Carlos are living illegally. His brother is 17 and he is 13. His brother's birthday is in a month then they can live without any worries. The coaches in the league start voting him out of the league because they think that he is too old to play U13. He needs his birth certificate that was left in Cuba. He meets a girl named Ellie that always runs away everyday around 7. As Micheal sits in his apartment and watches the Yankees his favorite player El Grande is pitching; they zoom in on the box where his family is and Micheal sees someone he knows it was Ellie. They get into a fight about why she didn’t tell them she was the daughter of El Grande and she runs off. He sees El Grande while he is entering the stadium and starts to sing a song from Cuba that El Grande knows because he was from Cuba. He gives El Grande a note to give to Ellie. They come back in the middle of the game and El Grande gives him a birth certificate to play. They win the championship and play in Yankee Stadium. Michael wanted to play in Yankee Stadium all year. That was his dream and my dream is some year to make it to Williamsport.