New teen novels – chapter eighteen
New teen novels include The Olive Tree Covering. History Bee is the title of the eighteenth chapter of new teen novels.
New teen novels often features teens in school.
In school the next day, I had forgotten the history bee. I had skimmed the assigned reading but hadn’t studied the chapters or taken study notes on the main points and facts of the history lesson. Mr. Keating had a policy of asking each student in his class history questions the day before a big test. If the student answered correctly then the student waited for the next question. If not then that student was out of the game and would have to take the test the next day. This continued until one student answered the last question correctly. The reward was exemption from taking the test and receiving an automatic A.
My mother had sent my brother and me off to school because she wanted us to continue with our normal routine. Ben and I wouldn’t have been much help to her while my father was undergoing heart surgery in the hospital. However, it was difficult for me to focus on my school lessons because of my concern for my father’s health and the great pain he had to endure.
Instead of remembering the answers to the history questions Mr. Keating asked all I could focus on was the vision of my father lying on the ambulance cot connected to various tubes and monitors. Today the doctors, decked out in masks and hospital gowns, were leaning over my father as he lay on a surgical table. They probed every inch of his body with their surgical instruments. It was difficult for me to imagine how my father could lie there while the surgeons cut his chest with knifes. I remembered the burning, stinging sensation after I had accidentally cut my finger with a knife while preparing dinner.
Tamara discovers she missed a question in the history bee in new teen novels
“Tamara, what was the name of the explorer who landed near what is now known as Tampa Bay, Florida in March 1528?” Mr. Keating stood in front of my desk.
“Um, Christopher Columbus?” I twirled a strand of my brown hair around my finger.
“No. Mike do you know the right answer?” My teacher shook his head and sighed.
“It was Cabeza de Vaca.” Mike ran his fingers through my hair.
“Right.” Mr. Keating walked back to the front of the class.
My chin rested in my right hand supported by my elbow on my desk. After Mike answered the question correctly, I had remembered reading that last week and should have known the answer. My thoughts about my father’s surgery and concern for his well-being occupied my mind more than my history lessons. It was unlike me to lose interest in history and respond incorrectly to history bee questions.
Before the bell rang, Mr. Keating announced the names of the students exempt from the test tomorrow. The teacher didn’t call my name. Mike and I headed out the door together in the direction of our lockers.
“That’s not like you to miss a question during the history bee. I know you’re worried about your father.” Mike opened his locker and took out his lunch.
“I’ll have time to study tonight.” Walking away from Mike’s locker towards my own locker I fumbled with the combination on the lock.
Tamara discovers something different about her friend Rachel in new teen novels
“Hi.” Rachel tapped my arm.
“Hi. How are you?” I retrieved my lunch and slammed the locker door shut.
“I’ve been keeping out of trouble. My parents have decided to send me to a different school. They didn’t like the crowd I was hanging around with here.” She brushed back my hair with her hand and whispered in my ear. “I think I might be pregnant but I’m not sure.”
“Pregnant! What makes you think that?” I grabbed Rachel’s hand and held on to it tightly.
“Shhh! Not so loud.” Rachel put the finger of her free hand to her lips. “Larry and I experimented the night of my party. We may have gone too far but I won’t be sure until the doctors have verified the test results.”
“Is that why you are going to a different school?”
It’s partly that. My mother is worried about my grandmother’s deteriorating health and wants us to move in with her. She lives by herself in New York and needs someone to look after her. My father will stay here until he finds another job and sells the house.” Rachel pulled her hand away from my grasp.
“Mike is waiting for me. Write when you get a chance.” I gave Rachel a hug.
“I will.” Rachel returned my hug.
“Anything wrong?” Mike walked with me to the cafeteria.
“I found out that Rachel may be in trouble because of Larry.” I touched Mike’s arm.
“I always knew that Larry didn’t know how to treat women. I’m hungry. Let’s eat.” Mike sat down at the nearest empty table and opened up his lunch bag.
Smiling, I took my place opposite him thankful that Mike was a true friend who treated me with courtesy and respect. Helen, like me, believed that you could be friends with a fellow without getting involved physically. Both of them helped me to realize that it was silly for me to try to relate to Rachel and her ideas of relationships with the opposite sex. God gave me my own unique identity and I didn’t have to follow Rachel’s example of making friends in school.
It was then that I realized that my father was showing how much he loved me when he objected to my going to Rachel’s birthday party. He was protecting me from dangers that I hadn’t thought about.
My father cared as much for me now as he did when he tucked me in under the warm, soft covers when I was little. He was in reality a loving, nurturing father who wanted to keep me safe and secure like a caterpillar in its cocoon.
God had answered all my prayers by eliminating my confusion and changing my father’s attitude towards me. On the other hand, maybe it was my attitude that had changed.
In new teen novels, what is a history B?
In the chapter after new teen novels find out what happens to Tamara and Mike.
Historical websites accessible with a mobile phone
National Museum of American History
Smithsonian Institution in Washington, DC
Mount Vernon in Alexandria, Virginia
National Women's History Alliance
History Today
History News Network
Colonial Williamsburg
