I was at the library about a month ago looking for some books to read. My Dad suggested I read Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck. He said it was a “Classic” and that “every kid reads it in school”, though I don’t think most  kids read it when they are 10 years old.

John Steinbeck was a phenomenal author, but that is a bit obvious because he is a Nobel Prize winner for Literature.

Of Mice and Men is a 107 page book about two men named Lenny and George. Lenny and George are looking to fix their lives as homeless people who can’t seem to find a way of life besides scavenging for jobs to get food. When they find another job they try to fix their lives forever, but everything doesn’t go as planned. When it all goes south they learn that sometimes its impossible to fix something that bad.

The characters are very well developed by the author. Lenny is not as smart as George. In fact, He’s not very bright at all. George guides Lenny, like a mentor, taking care of him and keeping him out of trouble. These characters are realistic and likeable. It was very easy to get attached to them and this made the story more interesting.

I liked the dialog in this story, it was easy to read and focus on the dialog because you understood what they said and it wasn’t like they were speaking a different language. There is a good mix of dialog and narrative to carry the story and both were creative and entertaining.

 The setting of the story was phenomenal and pure genius. It was very descriptive and realistic.

I would rate this book a 10 out of 10. My Dad was right, Of Mice and Men is very good and might be one of the best books I have ever read. I would recommend this book to everyone who has not read it yet, though it is probably best for ages 13 to 18.

Great book.

James Wisniewski, Sushi Chef?

I do.

Sushi is healthy. I love the taste and the combinations of flavors. My favorite type of Sushi is cut rolls, especially Big Wisniewski Roll (created by ducks Defenseman, James Wisniewski) at RA and the Tornado Roll at Riptide.

If you have never tried Sushi, you may be surprised and will probably like it. It is not just raw fish, there are many kinds of Sushi, so don’t be afriad and give it a try soon.

The Anaheim Ducks met the Stanley Cup Champion Pittsburgh Penguins at Honda Center on Tuesday.

Scott Niedermayer (Jeff Gross / Getty Images)

Not only was it a rare appearance at Honda Center by the Penguins, there were some other interesting stories to this match up. It was the first time Penguins forward Chris Kunitz and Ducks defenseman, Ryan Whitney had played against their old teams since being traded for each other last season. Former Mighty Duck, Dan Blysma returned to Honda Center for the first time as coach of the Penguins. The top two picks in the 2005 NHL Draft met for the first time when Penguins captain Sidney Crosby and Ducks winger Bobby Ryan took to the ice.

The first period started off quickly with the Duck’s Corey Perry firing in his 100^th career goal at 3:57, thanks to an assist by Scott Niedermayer. Following Perry’s goal the Ducks spent 8 minutes short handed due to four almost back to back penalties resulting from some questionable calls by the officials. The Ducks penalty kill was up to the task this time and the Ducks were able to hold off the powerful Pittsburgh offense to keep a 1-0 lead going to the 2^nd period.

Pittsburgh got out to a lead in the second period with goals from Mike Rupp and Kris Letang. Until Corey Perry scored his second goal of the game with assists by Ryan Getzlaf and Bobby Ryan at 16:01. Perry’s goal evened the score at 2-2 headed into the third period.

Ducks lost the lead when Pittsburgh’s Alex Goligoski scored at 7:55, but the Ducks didn’t wait long to respond. Saku Koivu evened it up again for the Ducks 19 second later, but the scoring wasn’t stopping yet. Pascal Dupuis scored the go ahead goal for the Penguins 59 seconds later making 3-4. The Penguins hung on to this lead for the victory. Even though the Ducks had some very good chances to tie the game late, it wasn’t meant to be.

In my opinion, this was by far the best game the Ducks have played this season. The Ducks really seem to have improved their ability to work together as a team. Corey Perry again showed why he needs to be on the Canadian Olympic Team and the Ducks penalty killing units were phenomenal. The improved penalty kill is good, but they need to improve on their power play. Actually shooting on goal would be a good place to start. The Ducks may not have won this game, but compared to the start of the season it was a improvement.

This game was all about revenge for the come from behind, overtime win by the Wild last week.

For the first time this season the Ducks scored first in the game. Corey Perry scored twice, the first at 1:41 of the 1st period from Nick Boynton. Less than 7 minutes later he scored again on an assist from Bobby Ryan. The second goal perry scored was a perfect backhand shot that beat Backstrom on the stick side. The crowd began cheering enthusiastically whenever Perry got the puck, hoping for another goal and his first ever Hat Trick. Evengy Artyukhin got in his first fight as a Duck when he fought with former Duck, Shane Hnidy at 13:49 of the 1st period. 6′ 5″ ,263 Lbs. Artyukhin won this fight easily over the much smaller Hnidy.

The score stayed 2-0 for most of the second period until the Ducks Ryan Carter scored at 15:11 with an assist from Mike Brown. Just over 1 minute later, Eric Belanger got one past Jonas Hiller, making it 3-1 and ruining the fans hopes for a shutout.

For a lot of the third period the Ducks played their top line, partly to try and get Perry that 3rd goal, but also to try and avoid a repeat of last week’s Wild comeback victory. With the  game nearing it’s end and Minnesota losing 3-1, they pulled their goalie for the extra attacker. Time after time the Ducks tried to get the puck to Perry for a shot at the empty net with the crowd chanting “Perry, Perry, Perry”, but it was Minnesota’s Andrew Brunette who scored with just over 9 second left. The last 9 seconds went without another goal and the Ducks win 3-2.

It was a good game, I liked it a lot. The played hard and never gave the Wild a real chance. This is the way I like to see the Ducks play, much better than the game last week in Minnesota.

(Photo by Bruce Bennett/Getty Images)

This game was the first time The Ducks have played against their one time captain and Stanley Cup teammate, Chris Pronger, since trading him to the Flyers last summer.

It was different to see Pronger on the opposing team. Though the Ducks won there was a difference  cause I miss Pronger and wish he was still on the team but the Ducks aren’t getting him back.

I thought it would be a tough game but I definitely was not expecting Teemu Selanne to nearly beat the Flyers single-handedly. With the Ducks losing 2-0, Selanne scored twice in the third period, his second goal tying it up with 16 seconds remaining. Then in the shootout, Selanne was the only player to score for either team, giving the Ducks the win over their former captain.

The Ducks needed that game and they did get the 2 points. Recently returning from injury, Petteri Nokelainen was played on a new line. The line of Nokelainen, Saku Koivu, and Selanne did a excellent job and could probably be a line on the Finnish Olympic Team.

The chemistry within the Ducks  has grown so quickly and the way they played against the Flyers is a huge improvement over the home opener. It was a  emotional step to get this win over captain elbows and his Flyers team that many see as the best in the League.

When I started to read this book, I knew it would be good. The cover was amazing and the first book in the series ended with a cliffhanger.

I loved the plot of this book. It was detailed, it was clear and it had so many twists it did loop-d-loops.  Tide of Terror was more complex than Demons of the Ocean. The story was amazing and left me wanting more. I have already searched the internet and found that there are many more books in this series for me to read.

I like how I was able to relate to the characters. They were believable and complex. I felt emotional when they had to make tough decisions and afraid when they were in danger. The dialog in Tide of Terror is much better than it was in the first book. The dialog was more realistic and far more fluid and detailed than Demons of the Ocean.

The settings are so detailed, I almost feel as if I’m there. The settings are sometimes repetitive, but this almost makes the story better because you really feel like you know the locations.

I enjoyed this book and would recommend this book to friends. I think that people, ages 10-13 should read this book, but it would make more sense if you read the first book Demons of the Oceans first. Justin Somper did a excellent job with this book and I hope to read the other books in this series soon.

It is a little bit hard to get excited for the start of my hockey season. I’m trying to be positive. My dad says the ice time and playing in games is good for learning, even if we don’t win. But losing isn’t much fun. We did that last season.

I looked at my league on anaheimice.com and noticed a few things that are upsetting.

First, coach Vicky is coaching two teams. That doesn’t seem right, or fair. What happens when her team plays her other team? Also, I didn’t like the way her team acted last season, having to face two teams like that does not seem like fun.

Second, Her teams are not fair. Both of them have an oddly high number of Lady Ducks players. Looks like they took the Lady Ducks team, split it in half and added a few players from her team last season to make 2 new teams.

Plus, her teams have goalies, mine doesn’t yet. I don’t know how that is going to work. Maybe they will let us borrow a Pee Wee goalie, probably get stuck with some Mite or something.

But it seems that the team selection process isn’t very fair. Why do we do the Draft Skate if the teams are just going to be hand picked anyway?

I really hope I’m wrong.

Brian Rafalski stretches during practice in Detroit. (Sancya/AP)

I read an article in the September 2009 issue of USA Hockey Magazine, called “Warming Up Can Help You Hit The Ice Running”,  written by Brian Rafalski of the Detroit Red Wings.

Brian gives four tips to help you warm up properly. He talks about doing cardio exercises like running, soccer or even hackey sack with teammates. He also recommends practicing stick work with a golf ball to work your arm muscles and loosen up your hands. Once you’re on the ice, playing keep away or a 3 on 3 game is a good way to get your heart pumping and body moving.  Most importantly, Brian explains that these tips are not just about getting your body ready to play, but also your mind.

I think that these tips are useful, my teammates and I do many of these already, but reading about the reasons for each one will help me focus more on my warm ups.

No, this is not the most advanced book I’ve read. I wanted to read this book when I saw it while browsing through the library. It was the writing on the inside cover that got me interested, a sea shanty about Vampire Pirates, Vampirates. This book was written by Justin Somper and is 330 pages long, it was published in 2006.

The plot was strong and creative, it had some interesting twists and turns that I didn’t expect. It was like a sweet and sour sauce of mystery and action, it had a good balance. I enjoyed the suspense and found this book almost addicting, but not quite. Sadly, the dialog is weak. I felt that it was a bit plain and often dull, like it was written for an 8 year old. Thankfully the narrative is strong and descriptive. It carries the story forward and it’s suspense and action make up for the weaker dialog.

There are a number of different settings in this book. From the village of Cresent Moon Bay to the Vampirates ship, there is enough variety to keep the story interesting and each setting is described well by Mr. Somper. Character development could have been better. I did find myself caring about the main characters Grace and Connor, however they didn’t always act human enough. I also sometimes didn’t feel like I really knew them or why they did some of the things they did.

Overall, even with it’s  flaws, Vampirates: Demons of the Ocean, is still a creative and entertaining book. I would recommend this book for ages 9-11. Readers over that age may find it difficult to get past the flaws and enjoy the story for what it is.

I have already started reading the sequel, Vampirates: Tide of Terror and will have a review of that one soon.

Starting with the 2009-2010 school year, I switched from normal public school to a home school. Some people think that people who are in home school are not very smart, but in my case I switched because normal school wasn’t very challenging. By age 7, I had read all 7 Harry Potter books. At age 8, I was reading books as advanced as The DiVinci Code, Angels and Demons and even The Al Qaeda Reader.

But reading and learning aren’t my only interests, I also play ice hockey and we are season ticket holders for the Anaheim Ducks.

This blog will be about me, my interests and activities. I will write about my hockey games and professional hockey. I will also write about the books I have read and whatever else comes to mind.