For this assignment, please write a brief summary and review (3 paragraphs max) of the book that you read independently during the month of January. Be sure to include the title of the book and author's name, as well as information regarding the setting, characters, and plot. Your review section should include an explanation of why you liked or disliked the book and what type of reader you would recommend the book to (ex: middle school girls who play soccer, teens who enjoy rock music, etc...). Although you are submitting this assignment online, please remember that correct grammar and sentence structure will be considered in your grade. Please DO NOT include your name in your response - you will be providing your initials and class number instead (read below instructions).
To submit: Click on the "Comment" link. When the page opens, type your response in the box on the right - DO NOT include your name in the response. Once you are done entering your text, scroll down to "Choose an Identity". Do NOT enter a username or password. Instead, click the button next to "Nickname". In the Nickname box, please enter your initials and class (ex: R.G. 7-8-3). Once you have done that, click "Publish Your Comment" and you are done!
This assignment is due by the end of the day on Thursday, 1/31. Please be sure to send your submissions in BEFORE then... Good luck and have fun!
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In The Mother Daughter Book Club by Heather Vogel Frederick, the main characters are Emma, Jess, Cassidy and Megan, who are the four child members of the club. Emma is very shy and studious, and her best friend is Jess. Jess is also very shy, and her mother has temporarily gone to New York City to star in a soap opera. Cassidy is very into sports and is new in town, and Megan is one of the popular girls in school who can be very rude at times. The other important characters are the girls’ moms, Jess’ dad and the other three mean girls who used to be Megan’s friend. Obviously, there are some other characters that may not be as important.
The book takes place in Concord, Massachusetts. It is a relatively small town, but that means everyone knows each other. The only other area that the story takes place in is in New York City, when the Mother Daughter Book Club goes to visit Jess’ mom. The book club meetings take place at the girls’ houses, each having their own unique atmosphere. Emma’s is very homey, with lots of bookshelves and comfortable couches. Jess’ is a little crazy, being on a farm. Cassidy’s is very elegant because her mother is a famous supermodel, and Megan’s is very modern, having all of these interesting features because her father is a millionaire.
The book is mostly about friendship because in the end, they all become best friends. The chapters switch views between characters. Emma, Cassidy and Megan’s mothers came up with the idea of a mother daughter book club and invited Jess (Emma’s best friend whose mother is away) to join as well. The point is that no one really wants to be there together at first, but as the book progresses, the girls get much more interested in Little Women (the book they are reading) and in spending time together. I also noticed that the book is almost like a modern Little Women, with a few twists. At some point in the book, every one of the four girls feels very uncomfortable in a situation, but their friends (the other three) always come through for them in the end.
7/8-3 L.A. Airman Eoin Colfer 1/26/08
Setting: This book took place in two different places. One of those places was the kings castle on Great Saltee, and the other was on little Saltee. Both places are islands, with Great Saltee being the larger island of the two. These islands are near the country of Ireland. The story takes place in the 1800’s. Most of the book takes place in a prison on little Saltee
Characters: The main character of this book was Conor. He has always had a dream of flying. He had a secret love for the princess and never gave up his dreams.. He was always determined to do what he could to help the king and princess. His father was the captain of the sharp shooter on Great Saltee. He lived with his parents until he was convicted for a murder which he did not commit, and was taken prisoner to little Saltee. During the book, when he was 16 years old, he found out that he had a little baby brother.
Another character in this book is Bolivian who is the Marshall of the Red Cross. He leads the knights of the Red Cross into doing violent things. He killed the king and tried to poison the princess. Bolivian owns the prison on little Saltee. He was the one who sent Conor to little Saltee.
Summary: This book was about a boy named Conor. His parents were flying in a hot air balloon when he was born. He was literally born in the sky. He and his parents moved to Great Saltee, an island near Ireland. Conors father, Declan Broekhart was the captain of the sharpshooters on Great Saltee. King Nicholas ruled Great Saltee and Little Saltee, but he didn’t know that there was a secret mine that was being prospected and mined for diamonds. The king thought that the Marshall of the Red Cross and group of murdering knights who kill for no reason, was doing something behind his back.
Conor was playing pirate with the princess of Great Saltee when the princess accidentally started a fire. She and Conor ran up to the roof. Conor took the flag off the flagpole and used it as a glider to fly away into the ocean to save the princess and him. The king took a boat to where they were and took them safely back to shore. One day, the king was murdered by Bolivian. Bolivian, who wanted to become the king, convicted Conor of the murder and took him to Little Saltee as a prisoner. He stayed there for two years before escaping with a friend. He was only 14 at the time he was convicted and sent to prison.
When he got out of prison, Conor was sixteen and he built his first glider. He used it to take diamonds from Little Saltee to Great Saltee so he could afford parts to build his engine-powered glider. On his last trip to collect pre-mined diamonds, some of the guards tried to kill him, because they wanted to stop him from taking the diamonds but he got away. In the end, he built his glider, saved the princess, who became Queen Isabella after her father was killed, from being poisoned, and he went down in history.
Review: This was a long yet exciting book. It kept me interested the entire time I read it. I would rate it 5 out of 5. I would recommend it for people who like adventure.
Other Works:
1. Artemis Fowl
2. The Arctic Incident
3. Eternity Code
Crystal by Walter Dean Myers is a story about a teenage girl named Crystal. She is a sixteen year old model. Crystal lives in Brooklyn, NY. Her family is very religious and they go to church every week. Another character that is greatly involved in this story is a fellow model whose name is Rowena a.k.a Rosa. Rowena is somewhat different from Crystal. She has a very low self esteem which eventually takes a toll on her life further into the story.
In the beginning of this story, Crystal is new yet prospering African-American in the modeling industry. With the help of her agent, whose name is Loretta, her careers seems to take flight. However, Crystal's grade plummet to an all time low. When she meets Rowena, they instantly becomes friends. At first, Crystal believes that modeling is all about glamour. But as time progresses, terrible things begin to happen to her friends as well as herself. Crystal also realizes that her modeling becomes a lot more about her body. Particularly, photographers want it to be more exposed. Will she leave the modeling industry before she gets herself hurt? Read Crystal by Walter Dean Myers for further details.
On a scale of one through five, one being the highest and five being the lowest, I would rate this book a four. I feel as though this book deserves a four mainly because it was a story that many girls could relate to. This is something that I believe every good book should have, relativity. Also, I liked the fact that Walter Deans Myers spoke on a topic as heavy as suicide at one point in the story. By doing so, he opened the door to further information on the topic. I would recommend this book for any girl who either likes modeling or wants to learn more about how to respect yourself above all things.
In the book A Wrinkle in Time by Madeleine L’Engle the main characters are Meg Murry, a high school girl. Her brother Charles Wallace and her friend Calvin O’ Keefe. All three of them go out on a voyage to save there father who is a scientist and he is held prisoner in a evil planet. In the beginning of the book Meg is a simple, loving girl who is dumbfounded because her father has been missing for over a year. In the begging a creature named Mrs. Whatsit shows up in the Murry kitchen unexpected and she tells the Murry’s about the wrinkle in time. The next day Meg and her brother go to Mrs. Whatsit’s cabin. On there way the see a popular boy named Calvin.
All of the kids go to her cabin and find out that the evil creature called The Dark Thing who is consuming all of the planets. And that he plans to consume Camazotz which is the planet that her dad is imprisoned on. And she tells them that her friends Mrs. Which and Mrs. Who can help them. Charles tries to fight the evil IT who is nothing but a huge brain, but it traps him also and takes him to a planet called Ixchel. Meg realizes that she needs to go alone to save her brother who was trapped by the evil IT. Meg realizes that the opposite of evil is love so all she does is focus on he love for her brother and he gets released from the clutches of evil. When he is realized they fall back into a garden and they see Calvin and her father and they reunite.
I liked the book A Wrinkle in Time. It was so good, and I felt like I couldn’t put in down. It was confusing at times but after a while I started to understand it. It had a very interesting plot and it was very addicting. I would recommend this book to people who like mysteries and who like space. I look forward to reading more books by Madeleine L’Engle.
The Foxman, by Gary Paulsen, takes place on a wilderness farm near Canada. The time period is somewhere between 1940-1950.
In the story, Carl’s cousin (the book never mentions his name) is a very caring fifteen year old boy and the Foxman is an elderly man whose face had been disfigured during his time in World War I. He lived alone in a shack in the wilderness north of where Carl and his family live. He is an intelligent man who plays the guitar and is an excellent trapper and hunter.
Carl’s cousin’s parents had a drinking problem. One day his mom got drunk and started chasing him with a knife and cut him. The neighbors called the cops and the next day he was in court. Carl’s cousin’s was taken away from his parents by the courts and sent to live with Carl, Carl’s parents, brother, grandfather and uncle on their farm. Carl’s cousin was sad for a while because his missed his parents and his home but he soon began to like the farm and get used to it.
Carl taught his cousin how to hunt, trap and make skis for the deep snow where they lived. Each weekend they would go out hunting and checking their traps for rabbit, fox or other animals so they could sell the fur. One weekend they traveled too far from home when a big snow storm came up. The looked for shelter and found a shack. Inside the shack was an old man with a horrible looking face who was nice to them and let them spend the night.
Carl got a girlfriend and stopped hunting and trapping on the weekends with his cousin. His cousin was curious about the old man in the shack who he called the Foxman. He also felt sorry for him because of his face. He went back to visit the old man and they became good friends. Carl’s cousin began to visit the Foxman each weekend and the Foxman taught him how to trap fox and a lot of other things about the wilderness. Carl’s cousin and the old man became very close but soon the Foxman became ill and died. Carl’s cousin was sad again.
This book was okay, but what I disliked about it was that it didn’t have any meat to it until the end. I would recommend this book to someone who likes to hunt, trap and is patient.
Hurt Go Happy by Ginny Rorby is about a girl named Joey Willis. Joey is 70 percent deaf which allows her to only hear loud sounds such as sirens or lawn mowers. Joey lives in Fort Bragg, California with her mother Ruth, step father Ray, and 2 and a half year old brother Luke. Two other important characters in this book is a old man named Charlie Mansell and his baby chimpanzee Sukari.
In the beggining of the book Joey carelessly stumbles onto Charlie's property as she is going on an afternoon walk. He is outraged at first but forgives Joey and finds out that she is deaf. Joey would have never guessed that meeting this strange old man would change her life forever. Joey is welcomed into his house where she meets Sukari. Charlie explains that his parents were deaf and that Sukari and him know sign language. This excites Joey but unfortunately her mother Ruth wont allow her to learn sign language because she thinks it makes her handicap more obvious. Although she doesn't know how Joey feels to not have a real conversation and how hard it is to read peoples lips.
Charlie and Sukari change Joeys life extremely but that could come to an end. Alot more happens in this book, to much to fit in 3 paragraphs so to know what really happens you will have to read the book to find out. On a scale from one to five I rate this book a five because it kept me interested and I found myself reading ahead to find out what would happen next. I would recommend this book to anyone who loves animals and anyone who is just loking for a good book to read. This book is very sad at some points but is still worth reading. The author Ginny Rorby successfully demonstrates and describes the impact on human animal relationships, which I found very effective to the story.
The Chronicles of Vladimir Tod Eighth Grade Bites, By Heather Brewer
This book, The Chronicles of Vladimir Tod Eighth Grade Bites, is about a boy named Vladimir Tod. Vladimir (Vlad) is a thirteen year old boy who tries to live a normal life but can’t. The reason for this is because he is half vampire. Vlad’s parents died mysteriously in a quick flash fire. That’s the official story at least.
Vlad is a thirteen-year-old boy who lives in Bathory. The two people who are most important to him are, Henry, his best friend, and Nelly, Vlad’s aunt. Vlad isn’t necessarily the most popular guy in school. There are to kids named Tom and Bill who just bother Vlad all the time. Since Vlad can’t read minds that well he was surprised when he read Tom’s mind and found out that Tom took ballet.
Vlad’s real teacher Mr. Craig had died in the beginning of the book. They characters did not actually know he had died. Vlad’s class then got a “substitute” teacher. Mr. Otis Otis. His first name is the same as his last. At first Mr. Otis and Vlad got along. Until Mr. Otis mad Vlad show his real identity (a vampire) through a project. Vlad thought that Mr. Otis was an evil vampire coming to kill him. Later on in the book Vlad learns more about Mr. Otis.
This was an amazing book. It was truly captivating. I would give it a five out of five. This book is a perfect blend of horror and comedy. I would recommend this book to any one who likes fantasy, horror, or comedy.
Other works by Heather Brewer include:
Hell's Belles
The Assault on the Boy Scouts of America
Animal Production
A Separate Peace
A Separate Peace is a coming of age novel about two boys at Devon, a boarding school in New England, and their friendship during World War II. There are three significant scenes of violence that occur in the novel; however, the focus of the plot is based upon one. The first and most poignant is the incident where Gene, the narrator, jiggles the tree branch while he and Phineas, his best friend, are preparing to jump, causing Phineas to fall and break his leg. The next scene of violence is when Quackenbush calls Gene a lame and Gene pushes him into the water. Lastly, Gene pushes Leper out of his chair while visiting him after he is accused of causing Phineas’ injury. All of these occurrences contribute to the overall meaning of the story. One of the climaxes of A Separate Peace happens during the first scene of violence. Until this scene, the reader is unaware of Gene’s “evil side”. He is so overtaken by his jealousy and rage toward Phineas that he succumbs to his emotions and causes Finny to fall off of the tree branch. This shows the immature, childish side of the characters. Not only are they climbing trees,but children also do not know how to handle feelings and emotions, and commonly react with violence. Gene then proceeds to dive off of the branch like nothing happened, apparently satisfied with his “achievement”; showing the reader that, like a child, there is little or no remorse for one’s actions.
The next scene of violence, in which Gene reacts to Quackenbush, is caused by Quackenbush’s referral to Gene as “a lame” for deciding to be a crew manager instead of going out for a sport. This is after Phineas’ “accident”, which Gene feels responsible for; and he takes the insult personally. Gene’s reaction to the insult shows the reader the actual closeness between Gene and Phineas. By taking the insult to such a personal level, the reader is able to understand how Gene and Finny have become almost as one person. Gene feels as though he is crippled himself because of the tightness of the bond between them, and the guilt he feels for Finny’s injury. The theme of maturation also becomes clear, as Gene feels drenched with guilt and responsibility for the decision he made to shake the branch.
The last violent scene also depicts Gene’s struggle between maturity and immaturity. He causes Leper’s chair to fall over when accused of making Finny fall from the tree. On one hand, the child-like trait of resorting to violence when confronted with anger and embarrassment is shown. He is aware Leper knows the truth, but is unwilling to face it. However, on the other hand, by becoming angry and defensive in the first place, Gene shows he is regretful and responsible for his actions. Violence in some form is a part of most every man’s youth, and it can even be paralleled to the fighting occurring in Europe at that time. Though the violent scenes in A Separate Peace are few, they contain great purpose and are significant contributors to the novel as a whole. Each event is symbolic to the rite of passage traveled by Gene and his peers, not only becoming men fighting for a peace within, but soldiers fighting for a peace of nations.
The book that I read was called Invitation Only by Kate Brian. It is the second book of the Private series. The main character is Reed Brennan. She goes to a boarding High School, Easton Academy. In the first book, Reed gets into the Billings Girls, which in a way is like a sorority. They don’t have to do anything the same, but they all live in a dorm together. The building is one of the best dorm buildings in Easton. In the first book, Reed’s boyfriend, Thomas, goes missing. Thomas is a very popular guy, but Reed’s friends from the Billings, don’t like him. They don’t like the way he treats Reed. When Reed’s boyfriend goes missing, it is the main talk of the school.
People say that he will go to the party of the year, the Legacy. But the only way you can go is if you are at least a third generation, which mean if you great grandparents and after went to the school. If you are not third generation, you can see if someone can take you, but only special people can. Walt Whittaker takes Reed, even though Reed doesn’t like him. While this is happening, Reed’s roommate, Natasha, blackmails her. Natasha thinks that the Billings Girls kicked her best friend out, Leanne. So she wants Reed to try to find information on why. The whole school looks for Thomas, but they can’t find him. They find out that he was murdered. It was really hard for every one, when it happened, even the Billings Girls that didn’t like him were sad.
I really like this book and the series. Usually, I read gossip books for middle school girls, and this book is like that. What’s different about is that it is mystery. You don’t know what happened to Thomas and also you don’t know why Natasha is blackmailing Reed. I was very interested in the book; it only took me two days to read it. I recommend this book to girls who like gossip and rumors, but want to try something new. It caught my eye because there is not just the typical girl book, it has murder, blackmail and rich girls. This is one of the best books I have ever read, and I recommend this book, and don’t forget the rest of the series!
SETTING: Most action in The Crossing occurs along the border between El Paso, Texas and Juarez, Mexico. Some of the action also occurs beneath the Santa Fe Bridge were Manny and other homeless children beg for coins from the rich American tourists. The American soldiers stood behind the club. (Tiki Congo)
CHARACTERS: the main character in The Crossing (by Gary Paulsen) would be Manny Bustos. Manny Bustos is fourteen years old. He is very week, small, and fragile. Although he is very small, and heavy weighted, he uses that to his advantage. Manny is a super fast runner. Two more important characters in this book are Sergeant Robert S. Locke, and “Old Maria.” “Old Maria” was in fact not old at all, but Manny preferred to call her that rather than Maria. Maria was a very good friend to Manny and she was always there when Manny was in need. Sergeant Robert S. Locke didn’t come into the story at the very beginning. He was a powerful American soldier who was also helpful to Manny.
PLOT: Manny Bustos was a fourteen year old weak and small boy. He was an orphan, scrabbling for survival on the streets of Juarez, Mexico. He sleeps in a cardboard box and continuously moves so that he doesn’t get kidnapped and sold, by his rivals. Manny lives alone and his food mostly depend on his companion, Old Maria. A couple of days out of the week Manny goes to the back of the restaurant that she works at, and begs for food. Usually Maria would give him a tortilla and maybe some chicken to satisfy his hunger. Everyday Manny thinks about escaping to the north to find a job. It isn’t that easy though. Manny hardly has food to crave his hunger, but he also would get caught by the border patrol. One day, Manny finally tried to escape. Old Maria gave him a sack of about 3 tortillas and a whole chicken. Unfortunately he was caught, but not by the border patrol. He was caught by one of his rivals. They chase him, until finally Manny went into an alley, and jumped over a wall. Manny was disappointed that he didn’t get to the north, but he met a special person. His name was Sergeant Robert S. Locke. Sergeant Robert S. Locke was an American soldier. Manny needed help to cross the border. Since Sergeant Robert S. Locke was a Sergeant, he could help Manny cross.
To find out if Manny made it across the border, read the book. I would recommend this book to a person who likes to read about people with less money trying to reach a goal. If I had to rate this book from a 1-5 scale, I would rate it a 1 because it wasn’t a type of book that I would like to read. I am more interested in mystery rather than this type of book.
The Outsiders by S.E. Hinton
The book The Outsiders by S.E. Hinton is a story of the struggle of fourteen year old Ponyboy Curtis to get threw life. Ponyboy has lived with his two brothers, Soda pop and Darry since their parents were killed in a car crash a couple of years ago. Soda, Darry and Ponyboy are part of a social class called the Greasers. Greasers have long hair and do not have a lot of money like the Socs another social class. The Greasers and the Socs are rivals and hate each other. Greasers are always trying to jump Socs and visa versa. There Sodapop, Darry and Ponyboy have many different friends. One of them is Johnny. Johnny is Ponyboy’s closet friend. A year ago Johnny was beat up badly by a Soc in a blue mustang. One day Ponyboy and Johnny are walking home at night and stop in the park to rest. Just then a blue mustang pulls up and a few Socs climb out, they are planning to beat up Johnny and Ponyboy. One of them grabs Ponyboy and holds his head under the water of the park fountain to drown him. Ponyboy thinks that he is going to die but all of a sudden the Soc falls down, Johnny had killed him.
Johnny and Ponyboy decide to run away to the country. Their friend Dallas supplies them with food and the hop a train to the country. In the country they hide away in a church. Their friend Dally has given them fifty dollars to buy food and other things they might need to survive. After about a week Dally comes to visit them in the country and takes them to Dairy Queen. Dally tells them of a fight that will be taking place soon. If the Greasers win the Socs have to stay out of their territory. Johnny and Ponyboy decide that they want to go home. When they come back from Dairy Queen they find the church they were staying in on fire. The people there don’t know how it started but know that they’re children inside. Johnny and Ponyboy rush in to the burning building to rescue the children. Inside a wooden beam falls on Johnny and breaks his back. When Ponyboy comes out of the burning building his back is on fire so Dallas knocks him out. When Ponyboy wakes up he is in the hospital.
I think that this was a very good book. The story line is interesting and held my attention the whole time. The Outsiders by S.E. Hinton is a great book and I think that anyone who likes books full of misadventure should read this book. This story is good but was boring at some points because the author was just describing a place. It was also boring at times because when they were in the church the story seemed like it was dragged along but over all it was a good story.
Harlem Summer Author: Walter Dean Myers
This book takes place in the hot hot summer of Harlem in 1925. Threw the book Mark Purvis goes threw Harlem. He goes to The Crisis and the bad streets of Harlem.
Mark Purvis is 16 year old boy who loves the and is the main character in Harlem Summer. Mark’s family is in a financial problem and because of that his family can not pay for his older brother to go to college. Mark is a good guy so he wants to find a way to get a good job that pays a good amount of money. Mark was told that if you can make a dollar in a night then something is shady. However when he hears that his musical idol Fats Waller is involved in a job to unload bootleg whiskey from a truck Mark takes it even though it is owned by a well known gangster Dutch Shultz, and the job pays a lot of money.
When the truck disappears along with all the whiskey in it Mark is blamed. Mark gets a job working at The Crisis which is a magazine published by The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People. Mark is desperate to repay Dutch for losing the whiskey. Mark then borrows money from the local gangsters Queenie and Bumpy Johnson to pay off his debt. Mark becomes confused with himself as to where he belongs. Mark can’t decide between his dream to make a bunch of jazz records or to keep getting caught up with the gangsters. Will Mark get to make jazz records and become famous or will he keep going to the gangster? Read Harlem Summer by Walter Dean Myers to find out.
I thought this book was very good. This book had a lot of exciting parts and funny parts and even some sad parts. I thought this book wasn’t really slow just some parts kind of confused me and I would have to read the page all over again. From a 1 to 5, 5 being the highest the would give this book a solid 4. The kind of person that would like this book is one that likes music, a teenager, and a person that just likes a good story.
Marley, a Dog Like No Other, a real story by John Grogan starts off with John looking for the perfect dog. When John and his wife, Jenny got to where they were selling yellow Labrador Retriever's. When they saw the puppies one crazy one greeted them. The dog's owner wanted $400 for the females and $375 for the males. The crazy one was the clearance dog and was very fond of John and Jenny. When John did the timid test by taking a hard step forward, none of the dogs jumped back but only one jumped forward, the clearance puppy. They named him Marley after their favorite reggae musician and were to pick him up two weeks later.
When John took Marley home the first night, his bed was supposed to be in the garage. John couldn't stand the squeaking that Marley made and had to bring him upstairs to his room. After the first few days, Marley discovered toilet paper. About three seconds after he disappeared into the bathroom, he ran back out with the end of the toilet paper roll clenched in his teeth.
Marley had many exciting moments in his life, like when he was picked to be in a movie. His role was to be the dog and to gently hop out of the minivan with a boy hanging on to the other end of the leash. Marley couldn't get it right, every time racing ahead like he was chasing a frisbee. Another time, in dog training, he acted like he could do anythingand was kicked out of doggy school.
Marley had an amazing and fun life
that was packed with stealing socks and shoes and costing the Grogan family thousands of dollars.
In Caucasia by Danzy Seena two sisters named Birdie and Cole Lee are lost. They are not physically lost but mentally because, their father, Deck is black and their mother, Sandy I white. Birdie has a lighter tone of skin than her sister Cole making her look white. Cole, being darker and curly haired looks black. Growing up was hard because they were born in a world of segregation. Soon the parents, Sandy and Deck divorce, the children are separated according to skin color. Cole goes with her father to Brazil, trying to escape racism. Birdie must go hide with her mother, because Sandy is an activist. Birdie never forgets Cole or her father. Birdie ends up not being able to deal with the struggle of being a half black white girl and runs away to live with her black aunt in Boston. Birdie eventually reunites with her dad and Cole, yet never understands why they abandoned her in the first place.
I would recommend this book to a person who loves drama, and like reading about what was happening to other people during big times in history. On a scale of 1-5 I’d rate this book a 4.5 it’s probably one of the best books I’ve ever read but it was mind of slow. It still kept me interested at it’s pace but, I often fell asleep reading.
7-8-3 L.A. William Gibson 1/30/08
Setting: The setting takes place around the Keller homestead in Tuscumbia, Alabama. The story happens to be in the 1880’s.
Character: The main character of the book is Helen Keller. Helen is a girl who is blind, deaf, and mute. Gibson describes Helen as “quite unkempt and never smiles”. She is aggressive and strong. She fought with Annie many times. Anagnos warned Annie that Helen is “much given to tantrums”. Helen is also intelligent and clever because she was able to lock up Annie in her own bedroom and hide the key in her mouth. Helen is also stubborn because she didn’t listen to the commands Annie gave her.
Summary: In the beginning of the story Helen Keller is born with a serious illness which left her deaf, blind, and mute. The Kellers then hires Annie Sullivan as a governess to work with Helen and to teach her how to behave.
Annie immediately decides at breakfast she will teach Helen obedience regardless of the potential distractions to the family. As Annie attempts to discipline Helen, a battle of wills ensures between the two of them in the breakfast room. When Mr. Keller was about to fire Annie, Annie convinces the Kellers she must separate Helen from the rest of the family if she to have any chance at success with her. Annie is given two more weeks with Helen in the garden house.
After two weeks, Helen emerges from the garden house but not able to understand the concept of language. At dinner Helen’s first night back with the family, Helen tests how far she can go by reverting to her old ways. Helen starts to misbehave; she dumps all the water in the pitcher onto Annie’s clothes. Annie grabs Helen’s hand and they go to the water pump. The miracle happens at the pump. Helen finally understands the word water and the spelling of it.
Review: This is a sad yet great book to read. If I were to rate this book I would give it 5 out of 5. I would give this book 5 out of 5 because this book teaches perseverance and the importance of the use of words to express our lives. I would recommend this book to adults and kids because it could help adults to have confidence in their child if they have a disease or illness.
In the book The Fire Within by Chris D’Lacey, the main character David is a college student/ tenant. He just moves in with a mother, Liz, and her daughter, Lucy, as the story begins. He is just a regular guy who moves into a house filled with mystery. The first thing he notices is that the whole house is filled with dragons. Not just any dragons, they are clay dragons who have personality. Lucy has a dragon named, Guinevere, who has the same facial features as Lucy. He sees these dragons all over the house in literally every room.
The book takes place in an unnamed town, and the house they live in is next door to a cranky old guy named Mr. Bacon. Mr. Bacon hates all rodents, unlike Lucy who loves animals, especially squirrels. A squirrel, that Lucy names Conker and has a bad eye, lives in the yard somewhere, but no one can find where, so by the middle of the book, David, Lucy, and Liz are out on a mission to save Conker. Also to help Lucy stay happy, David writes her a story throughout the book, which is written with the help of David’s own special dragon, that Liz makes, named Gadzooks.
In the end Conker is saved and sent back to the wild, and David finishes his story for Lucy which is titled The Nutbeast. David begins to actually believe that Gadzooks is a real dragon, and has a real personality, etc. Even though the book is mostly about squirrels, it was a great book and if the first part of a three part series. The other two books are Icefire and Fire Star
The Fabled Fourth Graders Of Aesop Elementary School
By: Candace Fleming
This book is about these third graders that are going to fourth grade, but the teachers and the principal don’t know what to do with the fourth graders, because the teachers that taught the fourth graders last year went nuts. The fourth graders are a special group. There was one more day till school started and the principal didn’t have a teacher for the fourth graders. When all hope was gone, a teacher came in the office and wanted to work there as a teacher. His name was Mr. Jupiter and you could see that he was a little crazy. At first, the students were acting a weird in front of him, but they got to know each other a lot better and became like family. The teachers and the principal were very imprested with Mr. Jupiter and the students. Mr. Jupiter and the librarian, Ms. Turner were in love, but were too blind to see it.
Each chapter told different short stories about the students and the teachers. It told everything that happened with them. Like some sneaky tricks that the students would and the things that the students learned, even the teacher. A chapter was about Rachael and how she needed to speak up and not to be afraid of anything or anyone. Then there was a chapter with Humphrey and his diet. He was eating too much fatty food and the gym teacher was talking about how to eat healthy and exercise. Moral: practice what you preach and you are what you eat. Another chapter was about a new kid that was new and said that he could swim, but in real life he couldn’t swim at all. The moral was: those who pretend to be what they are not, sooner or later find themselves in deep water. Finally in one of the chapters Ms. Turner and Mr. Jupiter kiss after Ms. Turner trying so hard to look like. Moral: Appearances aren’t everything. After every chapter there was a moral and told you what the students learned. At the end, Mr. Jupiter was going to leave the school, but a new mean teacher comes and the students beg for Mr. Jupiter to stay. Find out what happens…
I give this book a four out of five. I gave this book a four out of five, because the story was good, but the way the author told the story was getting a little boring after a while. I would recommend this book to a person who likes to read about young adults and how live is. Some other works: Muncha! Muncha! Muncha!, Gabrilla’s song.
I read Chinese Handcuffs by Chris Crutcher. It is about a boy named Dillion who is coping with the loss of his brother, preston, aswell as dealing with the secret that his friend Jennifer if hiding. Throughout the story Dillion writes letters to his deceased brother, who by the way killed himself, about his life. In the letters the reader learns about how Preston joined a gang called the Warlocks, about his drug addiction, and about how he killed himself because of his troubles. As the story progresses, the reader learns about how Jennifer's step father rapes her. This eventually leads to Jenniefer attempting to kill herself which would have happened if not for Dillion who convinced her out of it. In the end of the story, Dilion proves that Jennifer's step father has been raping her, and drives him out of town by threatening to show it to the media.
One of the main characters in the story is Dillion, a boy who feels guilty for his older brother's suicide. He also troubled by the fact that his best friend, and crush, is being raped by her step father. Another main character is Jennifer, Dillion's best friend who is continuosly raped by her step father. She does not like to be in physicall contact with boys due to the bad experiances with her step father.She also feels very worried when her sister is home alone because she is afraid of her recieving the same treatment from thier step father.
I thought that this book was pretty good and interesting.Most of the time it kept my attention and I liked it pace.There were times when I wanted to stop reading but once something intreging popped up i would not put the book down. I would reccomend this story to any who likes twists. Overall I would give this book a 4.5.
That was Then, This is Now
By S.E. Hinton
Bryon is a hustler with girls and playing pool. His best friend Mark has been living with him and his mom since he was nine. They have always been friends and never fought. Mark was always hot-wiring cars and getting into trouble. The reason why Mark lives with Bryon is because his parents shot eachother in a drunk fight. Mark has never cared about anything. The closets thing he had was Bryon, and they were like brothers. One of their friends named Charlie owns a bar and he is always letting them in the bar, when it is illegal. Another friend they have is called M&M. M&M got his name because he is always eating M&M's. There is not one time where you see him not eating them. M&M is a flower child. He is a very serious boy and smiles occasionaly. He is always telling Mark that he shouldn't do the bad things he wants to do. They think of him as a wierd boy, but a nice one. Bryon is broke and since his mother is in the hospital they had to sell alot of stuff to pay for her operation. Bryon is a tough guy, dark, strong, and handsom. While, Mark is skinny, blonde and stronger than he looks. Bryon is very smart and Mark is so too but doesn't really care about school.
When M&M says his sister is coming, Bryon gets really excited when he meets her. When the boys go to meet Bryon's mom at the hospital she tells him about a boy who never had someone visit him. When the boy's go in the room he tells them about how he go so hurt. He got hurt when he took a black girl home after his friends were bothering her. Then she told her friends to kill him, which they almost did. Bryon feels so bad for the boy and can never forget that story. He falls madly in love with Cathy (M&M's sister) the moment he looks into her eyes. When he asks Cathy to the dance she immediately she says yes. At the dance everything went well until Bryon heard that Mark was hurt. When they went into the parking lot he saw Mark's head bleeding. Bryon starts to cry thinking that his best friend is gone, when Mark groans. At the hospital Mark gets 8 stitches. When Bryon keeps hanging out with Cathy and not Mark, they seem to start to fall apart.
When Cathy and Bryon find out the M&M is gone, because his dad makes fun of him, they get worried. When Mark takes Bryon to the Hippie-Houses he isn't there, but they find out that he is going crazy. When one day Bryon is outside of his friend's house waiting for Mark, Tim and Curly Sheppard beat him up. When Mark saw him laying in the yard he starts crying. Bryon gets beat up really bad, but when he goes to the Hippie-House this time, but with Cathy, M&M is crazy and he stars talking about spiders. The reason why he is crazy is because of Marijuana.
Cathy is hysterical, M&M is crazy, his friend Charlie got shot saving Mark's and Bryon's life when they hustled two Texans and almost got killed, and now Bryon found out that Mark has been getting money by selling drugs. Bryon's head is going to explode with eveything going on. Bryon calls the cops when he found out that Mark was selling drugs. Mark was shocked, and when they went to trial Mark didn't even look at him. A few months past and Cathy and Bryon broke up, M&M is getting better and when Bryon visits Mark in the reformary, Mark was behaving badly so he had to go to state jail. Bryon got A's in school and was getting back at himself for everything he did.
I think this book is ok because there was some confusing parts but there was some parts that got me in suspence. I would recommend this book to people who like some mystery and some action. I think S.E. Hinton wirtes these books for kids so they can learn new things. Also what is right and what is wrong.
A Walk To Remember by Nicholas Sparks was an amazing novel about Jamie Sullivan and Landon Carter, two completely different people who have known each other since kindergarten, but never really spoken. Jamie is a very nice, sweet person, who cares for people and animals, and Landon is the bad boy, the popular boy who all the girls like,and all of the other guys envy. When Landon gets in some trouble both in school, and with the law, he is forced into community service, and starts to see more of Jamie. He and Jamie start to hang out more often,and develop a strong liking for one another.
Jamie's father is the priest in the only church in town, and doesn't really like Landon very much, nor does he like the idea of his daughter, Jamie, hanging around with him. Then Landon proves to him that he really wants to be with Jamie, and he accepts. Jamie and Landon are the perfect couple, and Landon never would have seen it coming, but it hit him like a ton of bricks. Jamie tells him that she has cancer, and Landon doesn't know what to do.
They are so in love, and Landon will do anything to make Jamie smile, or live longer. So he asks her to marry him, and she agrees. Not too long after they get married, Jamie died of Leukemia, and even more than fifty years later, he can still smell her scent, and he still has the image of her fresh in his mind. I really liked this story because it's just the type of story I like. It's perfect in every way, and it made me cry. Nicholas Sparks is definitely my favorite author, and I look forward to reading more of his work.
Letters to a Young Brother is nonfiction novel written by Hill Harper. The book is about Hill Harper talking to young boys about the struggles that they go through. Some examples of that are leaving middle school, high school, or even college. He talks about money situations how you should save money if you really need it for school supplies. He tells all the boys the right path they should head to like leaving home to early having unprotected sex, and an overdose of illegal drugs. Some of the characters include Vivica Fox, Serena Williams, and the main character the young boy. Hill Harper also talks about his adventurous life in the show CSI New York.
As a result of this book being nonfiction, it takes place all over the world. One of the first places the story takes place is New York City. The second place is Los Angeles that was when he was usually writing this book. The third place is Salt Lake City, Utah.
I really enjoyed Letters to a Young Brother because it gave me the idea to do the right thing with my life when I get a little bit older. If I could rate this book, I would give it a four and a half because it sparked my interest and captivated me to read on. I would recommend this book to poor African-American teenagers so that they know to take the right steps in life. Overall, this book is excellent, interesting, and intriguing.
In The Library card by Jerry Spinelli has four different stories about one library card. One character is Mongoose who is headed down the wrong path in life from stealing to vandalism, Brenda, a television addict who is trying to find a different calling in life, Sonseray who lives with his dad in his car, and April who lives on a farm with her father. All these characters totally different but connect in one way, The Library card.
This book takes place in four different places. The first one where you have to be cool or tough to survive. Mongoose was neither but he decided to be tough and realized it was a bad decision. Another setting is where Brenda lives a quite neighborhood where barely no kids live. Sonseray lives in a very poor town where there are only two big houses the other people are on the street or either in an apartment, and April who lives on a farm where everybody is destined to be a farmer.
This book is mostly about kid’s lives getting changed by the Library card. Moongoose found out there is another way in life he can be who he wants. Brenda finds out books are television of the mind and how you picture things. Sonseray finds his favorite book his mother used to read him before she passed; April who finds that she can be different and doesn't have to be a farmer like everybody else. This book is recommended to people who always follow the crowd because they can be anything they want
Dracula
This story is about a Fiancée who is at home in England and a husband who is traveling around the world because it’s his job and he starts somewhere in Europe and he says I want to see Dracula but people o villagers are afraid to go by or even near his castle except one strange villager he goes half way to the castle and one of Dracula’s servants takes him the rest of the way the guy gets out the car then all of a sudden a pack of wolfs come out of no where and the guy that drove him gets killed.
In the middle of the story they eat together but Dracula says he already ate and he is not hungry it’s late noon it’s getting dark and the guy goes to sleep and all of a sudden he hears his name being called (Thomas Thomas Thomas) then he see the Dracula girls come. then they try to kill the guy then Dracula comes and gives them a baby to eat. Then Dracula .
At the end the cap. And his men go on a hunt for Dracula and he is no where to be found so at night they go to his castle and finds where he sleeps and he is not there then they go back to the village and finds him there killing people and the goy pulls out a cross and puts it on him and he dies and so does the girls. Then the guys wife has a baby and names it after him Thomas the great.
This month, I read Jackie and Me, by Dan Gutman. In the beginning of the book, Joe Stoshack got an assignment to do a report of someone who changed America. He picked Jackie Robinson, the first black guy to play baseball. Joe stoshack has a secret that if he has a baseball card, he can go back in time in that date, like it says 96, Derek Jeter card, he can go back in time in 96. The only people who know he has that power are him and his parents. Joe goes to a card store called flips fan club and asks for a 47 Robinson card and they work things out.
In the middle Joe arrives in Brooklyn and meets Jackie. They get to know each other and Joe goes to Jackie’s games to see him play. He notices a lot of racial comments and other things. Joe comes back home to right his report. Joe forgot to give his dad cards from back then because it’s worth a lot now so he went back in 1947.
In the end of the book Joe got cards and was going to watch Robinsons game, which was the World Series, but they lost. Then the batboy thought that Joe was future, from the last visit. So the batboy chases Joe and so as the police. Joe quickly gets home and doesn’t bring the cards home but in his hands was signed ball by Babe Ruth. Then joe was safe and got the best grade in the class for his report.
I love this book, this is the best book I have ever read! I recommend this book to people who love sports and like fiction books.
The First Part Last
By: Angela Johnson
16 year old Bobby accidentally got his girlfriend, Nia pregnant. Nia can’t take care of the baby and they don’t want to put their baby up for adoption. Nia can’t take care of Feather because she has brain damage and now lives in a nursing home. After Feather was born Bobby decides to take the lead and take care of the baby and focusing on school. He knows now that there’s no more partying, hanging out at the pizza shop after school and having fun. He was a father and he needed to start taking things more seriously. Even though his parents are upset and angry for what he did they still stick by his side. It’s been harder to get rest during the night when Feather starts to cry during the middle of the night and he has to keep on remembering he’s now a father.
Then:
Bobby’s mother always kept protection for him and his brothers under the sink just in case that time comes even though she didn’t like the sound of her sons having sex. Bobby would hang out at the Pizza shop and skip school when he wanted to or didn’t feel like going to school. After finding out Nia was pregnant he did was make sure she was comfortable he would get pineapple pizza and whatever she wanted. He would always spin time with her and make sure she wasn’t unhappy. He went with her to the scanning and doctor appointments and even when there parents tried to adopt the baby he was right there. After finding out while Nia was giving birth that she had brain damage he cried and was heart broken but only knew it would help If he took care of the baby. Nia and Bobby didn’t want to know that their baby was with someone else then one of then.
Now:
Bobby liked talking to Feather when no one else was around for him to talk to. He would always talk to her about what goes on in school, at home, about his friends and of course always NIA. Feather looked just like Nia to her facial expressions to her looks EVERYTHING! When Bobby went to go visit Nia at the nursing home he told her everything about Feather she just smiled and laughed. Even though his mother out of town and can’t help him she still calls everyday to ask how everything is going. His father lives in the Brooklyn and always visits though. It’s harder for him now because he has to find a babysitter that will take care of Feather until school is over. How will Bobby manage with everything? Will he change after the total change with the baby? To find out READ THE BOOK!
The ABC Murders
By Agatha Christie
The ABC Murders is about a detective named Hercule Poirot and his assistant, Captain Hastings. They live and work in England, in the 1930's. One day, Poirot receives a note from someone called ABC. The note warns that a murder is going to take place in Andover, and specifies the date. Contrary to Poirot's predictions, the murder does happen. The victim is a middle-aged woman who owns a small tobacco shop name Alice Ascher. She was struck on the head with something heavy and died. Soon, another note comes, warning of a murder at Bexhill-On-Sea. This time, the victim is a flirty young lady named Betty Barnard, who was strangled with her own silk belt. Under each body is a new copy of an ABC railway guide.
On the third murder, Sir Carmichael Clarke in Churston, whose head was bashed in with a rock, the note was misaddressed and came after the murder. An ABC railway guide was found on the path by the body.
By the time that the fourth note comes, Poirot and Hastings have organized a committee of the friends and family of the victims. They are Mary Drower (the niece of Alice Ascher,) Megan Barnard (sister of Betty Barnard,) Donald Fraser (Betty Barnard's fiancé,) Thora Grey (Carmichael Clarke's secretary,) and Franklin Clarke (Carmichael Clarke's brother.) After listening to everything the committee says, Poirot realizes that at the scene of each murder, on the same day, a friend or family member of the victim, or the victim themselves, purchased a new pair of silk stockings from a door-to-door salesman.
The fourth murder is scheduled to take place in the town of Doncaster, on the day that there is a big horse race there. The murder happens in a movie theater, a person whose name does not begin with a D is stabbed. People think that this was just a mistake.
The suspect is Alexander Bonaparte Cust, a middle aged man who is a stocking salesman. He is not the kind of man you would notice, and he suffers from epilepsy. He is suspected because a maid from the inn saw him washing blood from his sleeve on the day of the Doncaster murder. He was in every town on the day that the murders took place, and in his room was a package of ABC railway guides. He also owns the typewriter that printed the ABC letters. He also believes that he himself committed the murders in an epileptic state. However, Poirot suspects that Mr. Cust definitely did not commit the B murder. That night he was in a different town playing dominoes as Betty Barnard was strangled, where his palm was read to say that he would be the most famous man in England. Also, he is not the type of man who could get close enough to a girl to strangle her with her own belt. Since he can't see why Cust would only commit three of the murders, and the letters were written by a sane man, so he suspects Franklin Clarke.
Carmichael Clarke’s fortune was going to his brother, however, since his wife was about to die, he probably would marry Thora Grey, and the inheritance would no longer go to his brother. That led Franklin Clarke to think that he would have to die then and there. He knew that both of his brother's names began with a C, and so did the town he lived in, so he used an alphabetical complex. He had "hired" Mr. Cust as a stocking salesman, sending him the typewriter as a gift with his new job. He also concealed a package of new ABC guides in the same package as the stockings. He sent him orders, from the same typewriter, to go sell stocking in the towns on the days of the murders. Franklin purposely misaddressed the third note so that he would have time to kill his brother on his evening walk before Poirot found out. On the Doncaster murder, he was out by himself, supposedly watching out for the murderer. Mr. Cust had finished work and was going to see his favorite film, and Clarke followed him in. He pretended to trip and stabbed the victim, slipping the knife into Mr. Cust's pocket and getting blood on his sleeve.
But Clarke was discovered and did not get a penny of the inheritance, and just as his fortune foretold, Alexander Bonaparte Cust was now the most famous man in England.
I really liked this book. On a scale of 1 to 10, I would give it a 15. I generally do not like books in the mystery genre, but this was an exception. It really made sense, and it was very realistic. It was also very suspenseful and always made me want to keep reading more. It could also really convince me of something like Mr. Cust being the murderer, just from its narration of what he was doing at the time, and at the end, it genuinely surprised me. I would recommend this book to everyone, regardless of their gender, except for really young kids. Even if it is "out of your genre," I think that it would be really interesting and would appeal to anybody.
Author: Alison Rattle and Allison Vale
This book was about many haunted places in the world. North America, South America, Europe, Caribbean, Australia, Africa, Asia. This book teaches you signs of a ghost also teach you all types of gadgets that are used to detect ghosts. Many stories are also told according to people’s point of views well your own view counts and what you believe in.
There is more than story in this book but I will tell you one right now. Flight 401 that happened in Miami. It was just a normal day the plane was going to land just a few minutes later. All the sudden they saw that there was a shaft air failure and they got distracted so they did nit notice that they were descending 200 feet per minute. They crash into the everglades. All passengers die on sight except one. That person was rushed to the hospital but eventually died on they way. The weird thing is that that ghost sighting of the two pilots have been seen. Even plane pilots have had a conversation face to face ad then he disappears. There has also been a time after the crash one of the pilots has said not to fly this plane to the engineer and later that day the plane engine fails, luckily no one was in it.
If I were to rate this book form 1-5 I would rate it a 5.it is one of the most chilling books to read with great stories that will leave u scared for days. I recommend this book for strong hearted people, not for the faint of heart. They hae no other works published
The book I read for the month of January is The Cupid Chronicles, which is basically a continuation of The Wedding Planner’s daughter. The Characters of my book are Willa, Stella, Sam, Tina, Ruby and J.F.K (Joey Kennelly). This book takes place in Bramble, Cape Cod. Willa Havisham is the main character she fun, cool, pretty, popular and has one huge crush on JFK. Stella is Willa’s mom she is normally over protective but since she married Sam she has been a little bit more lenient. Sam is Stella’s husband and was Willa’s previous eighth grade writing teacher. Tina is the prettiest girl in the ninth grade; she is also the most popular. Ruby is the second prettiest and the richest girl in the ninth grade, she to has a crush on JFK but only because Willa does. JFK is cute smart and everything Willa looks for in a boy, he has a crush on Willa but he also likes Ruby too.
It is the beginning of freshman year and Willa and Tina are ready to see all their friends except one… JFK. Willa has been in love with him since she met him, and when Willa found out that he moved to Minnesota and Willa was heart broken. She said she liked him because of his eyes. Anyway its lunchtime and Willa is ready to eat when she hears somebody say “Hey willa how’s it going”, willa turns around and does not believe it, and believe it or not it was JFK. She Told herself to calm down in her head and ask him how did he come back, it turns out that his father can become publisher of Cape cod Times. Willa being the flirt she is and asks him what he is doing for Halloween and says she is having a party although she has no permission from her mom. After school ends she goes home quick to ask her mom about the and surprisingly she says yes. Before she knows it the party is here but no JFK. Soon enough JFK is walking right through the door in his chef costume just like Willa’s but in a boy version. Willa was to busy getting collecting money so people can get in she barely could dance with JFK.
As Willa was walking home she passed by her favorite place the library and noticed that it was closed. Willa rushed home to her mother to ask her what happened and why is it closed down she says that not enough people are going and therefore it is getting no money and they have to close it down. Willa has an idea all the money that she made for the dance she is going to split it fifty- fifty with the library. When she goes over Tina’s house to discuss the matter she comes up with a brilliant idea. To have another dance but just a lot more formal, Tina’s aunt can give her a perfect match quiz to see if anybody is the perfect match. It’s settled Tina and Willa are having another party/dance and this time it is going to be better. It is the Friday night of the dance and Willa and Tina are going shopping for their dresses. Everything seems as if it is going right until she slips and fractures he ankle now she can’t go to the dance and her plans for tomorrow are ruined. Now willa will not be able to dance with anybody and now she will have to wait to see if her and JFK are the perfect match. Will Willa save the library? Is JFK and her the perfect match? Find out by reading “The wedding Planner’s Daughter: The Cupid Chronicles.”
Staying Pure by Stephanie Perry Moore
This book is about a girl named Payton Skky. She is a Christian girl and follows she beliefs. She has a boyfriend name Dakari. He broke up with her for a new girl in town that is stealing all the girls boyfriends, her name is Starr. Payton is a cotillion. Cotillions are girls who go to a place to learn how to be a lady and do lady like things.
She has a cotillion ball to go to but has nobody to go with. Soon she meets a boy named Tod . He takes her to the cotillion ball. But Starr is after him. But it doesn’t work. They had fun at the cotillion ball. And since then she has been happy.
I would recommend this book to girls around 12 to 18 to read this book. Especially girls who like drama books. This book has a lot of drama salutations in it. I think girl who are in high school can relate to the situations in this book.
The Pig man and me.
This book takes place in Travis Staten island New York. It is a autobiography book and it is of course non fiction. The book is interesting and it shows how hard it is to be a new kid in school. It also shows what happens with families when the door closes. Not every family is perfect. The book talks about Paul Zindels [author] childhood. He had to move because his mom failed to pay the rent. When he moved to Staten island Travis he didn’t know what was coming to him. He makes a best friend her name is Jennifer Wolupopski. Most people there are polish and if your not polish they don’t treat you normally. The kids bullied him and it was tough for Paul untill he started to make friends.
His mother was a big problem. She always threatened to commit suicide. She was a lonely mother. She had many fits and was moody. Almost as if she were bipolar. Since he doesn’t have a father it is hard for him. But he has a pig man to be like a best friend and a father. The ending wasn’t very good but I still liked the book.
I liked the book and it was interesting. Its pretty cool to read about some ones life back in the day. The worlds changed a lot since then so I can compare his life to mine in ways. I would rate this book a four out of a five. Even though I don’t like non fiction books it was alright. I would recommend it to people who like to read autobiographies and non fiction books.
My book is called getting hooked by Nyomi Scott. The main characters of my book is
Imani, Kayla, and a boy named Maurice. Imani is an eight-teen year old girl who lives with her father and her grandmother. Imani loves spending time with her cousin Kayla, most of there spear time. They are almost like sisters. Imani has beautiful curly black hair, light colored skin tone almost like creamy pecan and brown eyes
Kayla is eight-teen years old and she’s in her senior year in high school like Kayla and Maurice. Kayla and Imani may be cousins but they act and look exactly alike except for Kayla’s blond straight hair. Kayla loves school and does her best to succeed in her classes. Kayla has a light skin tone then Imani and blew eyes.
Maurice is also eight-teen years old. He is more if a quiet guy who likes to hang out with his guy friends and chill with the ladies. Maurice is popular in creek side high school. Everybody knows him. He likes to play sports. He’s very energetic. Maurice is tall, built, and very smart. He has brown almond skin and a short Cesar hair cut. He is very cute.
The setting of my book takes place at the road trip gong to Arizona. It is warm and very muggy outside. The setting takes place at the middle of the night. What the plot have in common with the theme are that they both reflect off of each other. The theme is what the story is about and the plot is like a summary.
The book is about how two girls name Kayla and Imani had a problem in Creek side high school. It’s almost time of the year. The school year and the prom are almost here. Imani comes up with a plain to make a web site called getting hooked. Imani and her cousin try to find dates for the prom but what Imani really wants is to tell this boy she likes named Maurice about her web site so he notices her and hopefully he would ask her out for prom. A few months later Kayla and Imai notices how much their web site becomes popular.
One day when Imani wakes into Kayla’s house she notices that she was talking to this boy on the phone that she got hooked up to named James. James lived in Arizona. He was a college student who loved school and everything else about his life. Imani knew when she first herd his name come out of Kayla’s mouth that it wasn’t such a swell idea of going over to this guys house shed barley new. When Imani tried talking Kayla out of going to a completely strangers house she totally disagreed with the fierce on the look of her face. Kayla thought that Imani didn’t know what she was talking about and she hardly knew the guy. So Imani just left so she would regret anything she would have said to Kayla.
The next day Imani went over Kayla’s house to apologies and tells Kayla that she didn’t mean to get so frustrated at her. When Imani had went to Kayla’s house she wasn’t anywhere to be found. Imines heart pounded out of her chest when the only thing she could do was find he. Maurice who has seen Imani from a far distance went over to see what the reason she was crying was. They both grabbed a seat over on Kayla’s concrete steps and Imani explained the reason why she had been crying. When Maurice had heard he was upset so he offered to drive her to Arizona to get her cousin back home safe where she had belonged.
Finally Imani and Maurice were settled and they drove to Arizona. It took a two day trip to drive from California to Arizona. Imani got her cousin and meet the guy Kayla was talking to on getting hooked and she didn’t think he was a bad guy but she still thought it was no explanation of why Kayla had ran away without telling her first. Imani and Kayla were happy they were back together again. Maurice drove them both back home safely. When Maurice dropped the bags off to Kayla and Imines house Maurice had the guts to ask Imani out and he gave her kiss.
♦King James: By Ryan Jones♦
This book takes place in Akron, Ohio which is the place where Lebron James went to high-school. Then near the end of the book it takes place on the basketball court a lot. Lebron James is the main character of this book. He is a very good person on and off the basketball court. He GPA in high-school was 3.6. So that shows how hard he wanted he worked. He is six feet and eight inches tall. He likes to play many sports but obviously his favorites are of coarse basketball and football.
This book is about how Lebron James got to the NBA straight out of high-school but of coarse he had a long journey before getting there. Lebron was a regular high-school kid who loved and adored basketball. He loved football but he worked as hard as he can to be at the NBA level. In his sophomore year of high-school he averaged just over 25 points, 7 rebounds, and about 8 assist. His sophomore team’s record was stupendous they only lost 1 game and that game they lost was 79-78 and it was because Lebron had missed 4 critical free throws with one minute left in the game. That was one flaw of Lebron’s game. He was a breathtaking player but his free throws weren’t that great. In this book Lebron and his mother both talk to many scouts from colleges all over the U.S. and even some NBA scouts. But Lebron wasn’t interested in any of them at the moment until he was a senior.
When he became a senior a lot changed he was the topic in sports he was on Sports Illustrated magazines and on ESPN magazines and in many interviews with sports broadcasters. As a senior he got many offers from college and his mother liked the offers as well as he did. But he wanted to go to the NBA as soon as he got the offer at the 2003 draft but his mother wasn’t into that because, even though he had good grades in high-school his mother wanted him to get a better in college. But that didn’t obviously happen because he was the number one pick in the 2003 Draft by the Cleveland Cavaliers. He, his mother, his high-school coach, his friends were so excited and proud of him. His mother was even more happy because Lebron was playing in his home state.
I recommend this book to fans of Lebron James and young who basketball so they can see how it is to be no-one to someone!•
In the book Disenchanted by Julie Linker, the main character is West Deschanel. West lives in Hollywood with her widower father (who is a big time hollywood agent) and her maid staff and her nanny. Her best friend is Delaney. Delaney and West are planning a big party. West is hoping to impress her designer boyfriend at the party with all her fashions. Then bad news strikes. West's dad is sent to jail because he supposedly robbed one of his clients. The client framed him. West was just supposed to stay in Hollywood with her nanny; then West's aunt that she had never heard of says she'll take custody of West while her fathers in jail. The judge says West needs a regular life so the aunt gets custody of West. West freaks out even more when she finds out that this aunt lives in Possum Grape, Arkansas. West has no choice but to put the party on hold as well as her relationship with designer boyfriend.
When West starts her fist day of High School in Possum Grape she hates it because she doesn't like how all the kids dress like farmers. Then when she's in the bathroom redoing her make-up a girl walks in who looks like she wears designer clothes. Apparently West finds out she makes her own clothes. West becomes friends with her and all of her friends. West wants to still get out of Possum Grape so she can make it to her party. Close to the end of this book West makes it back to Hollywood but during her party she has a different state of mind and totally changes her outlook on things.
The type of people who would like this book are people who like to read about spoiled girls who have something misfortunate happen to them. The book is also somewhat of a mystery because no one knows who did what and the background to each other. The book is all about finding what is really good in life.
I'd Tell You I Love You, But Then I'd Have To Kill You
By Ally Carrot
This book is about a girl, Cam, who goes to an all girls private school where they teach them how to be spies. It's the beginning of the year and Cam and the girls in her grade have to take Cover Operations, or CoveOps. This is where they are taught what to do on a mission. On a practice mission, something goes terribly wrong; Cam meets a boy. Nobody finds out, but then the new diva girl somehow figures it out. Then Cam has to tell her best friends. Then they start having their own missions and Cam has her first boyfriend. He doesn't know that she's a spy, but soon he finds out, and she has to tell him the truth.
I would give this book a five out of five. The book was very descriptive and had great detailed. The book had a great plot, but of course somethings were really fictional. Their is a second book coming, thats the follow-up of this one, and I would love to read. The book really hooked me because it was a girl who like a boy who she wasn't allowed to be with. Then she risked a lot for it.
I would recommend this book to mostly girls. I mean guys could read this, but I know most girls would love this book. It talks about how a girl falls for this guy, and has to create a different identity. She also has to sneak out her school to meet him. Then in the end, she did it all for nothing, because he still found out.
Princess on the Brink by Meg Cabot is a book from the Princess Diaries Series. It is about a girl named Mia Thermopolis who recently found out that she was a princess to a small country in Europe called Genovia. Mia is still trying to get the hang of things and she also learns how to be a big sister, because her mom got married to her Algebra teacher, who is now her step dad, and now she has a baby brother named Rocky.
The story takes place in Greenwich Village in New York City during modern times. Mia and her friends attend Albert Einstein High School. Mia usually hangs out with Shameeka, Lily, Tina, Boris, J.T. and Michael, Mia’s boyfriend. This year, Lily decides to nominate Mia for school president and Mia only does it to make Lily happy. Mia also finds out that Michael is leaving for Japan for a year, and Mia is being faced with pre-calculus. In the end, Lily becomes president and Michael and Mia end the book on a rough note. They broke up, but then Mia tries to meet him at the airport to apologize, but he already left. Mia then emails him saying that she was sorry.
I really liked this book, since it was in diary form, I really felt like I understood how she felt and how she saw everything. I would recommend this book to girls who like to laugh or girls who want to laugh, because this book is filled with humor. It also has serious parts too, but the humor plays a major role. On a scale of one to five, I’d rate it a four because I couldn’t put the book down and I couldn’t wait to see what happened next, but I also felt that it didn’t have a very interesting plot and it was also predictable.
The Time machine by H.G. Wells
Setting: This queer story takes place in many different places and times.The First few chapters took place in the late 19th century or so it seems.Then the character uses his time machine to go to the year 802701 a.d. then he goes to an undescribed time on a beach.Then he goes Thirty million years into the future. Then he comes back to the 1800s, leaves somewhere and never returns.
Characters: The Narrarator tells the story at the beggining and end. his name is Mr. Hillyer.He was The time traveler's dinner guest when he announced time travel is possible.Then There is the time traveler himself. He embarks on this wonderous adventure in time travel and is somewhat the main chaaracter of this story.Weena is one of the little humans that the Time Traveler meets.
plot:There is a meeting at the time travelers house. a group of import people are invited including the nararrator,a mathimatician, the mayor etc. The time Traver(TTT)annouces that time travel is possible. he says he will show them the neext day as the machine is not ready yet. the next day, ttt tests it out and the machine goes wild and out of control.He ends up in 802701 a.d. he meets these little human-ish creature called the Eloi. He meet one named Weena and they quickly build a frinedship. during this time ttt is looking for the time machine that has disappeared. He finds out it's in in a pedastal somewhere in the place where the morlocks live.Under ground.The morlock is the Elois worst enemy. he finds that matches are a good defense against them so he goes to a what is then called a mueseum and takes some matches and heads down under ground.In doing so he creayes a fire which then turns into a giant battle in which little Weena is killed.Ttt gets to the machine despite all this and zooms to the future. He goes to a distant time to a beach where giant crabs attack him. he manages to fend them off and head 30000000 years into the future.There is only one sign of life which is a blob that has tentacles. He returns back to the present and disappears again and never comes back.
This left me with one big question... Where did he go? I think this story could be a start on time travel in real life. It's a thought provoking book that i like because there is so much mystery to it at the end. I can see why J.B. read this, its a great story.
Book: The Pigman and Me
By Paul Zindel
This book is about a boy that meets his Pigman. A Pigman isn't really a man that's a pig a Pigman is just an expression for someone who teaches them great wisdom. Paul's family is broke after their father ran out on them. His mother is insane, not literally, and is very suspicious of men. She threatens to commit suicide a lot but she never does it. When their just about down on their luck their mother meets a woman named Connie. Connie's husband left her with two kids and now Connie is just a wreck. Then Connie says that she has 3000 dollars in the bank.
So they bought a house together and that's where Paul met his Pigman. Paul's Pigman was Connie's father. He was a wild old hermit who LOVED to play tricks on people. Together Paul and his Pigman caught fish and played a trick where they put cans in a bag and let a car drive over it so it makes loud pops. For the ending of this great book you'll have to read it yourself.
On a scale of 1/5 I would give this book a 5. This book was great in it's simplicity and in the way it detailed everything perfectly. The little things were just plain written out but anything of importance was given a paragraph to understand and to take in. This book was overall great and I hope to read more from this author.
BLOOD IS THICKER
The book I read was” Blood is Thicker” by Paul Langan . The book is about a boy named Hakeem who is forced to move from California to Detroit. The reason he has to move is because his dad has cancer and can’t afford to live where they are presently living. They are forced to move to Detroit with his cousin Savon, who is Hakeem’s age both of there family are joining into one. Hakeem was angry because he had to leave all of his friends. Now he feels that the only thing he has is his guitar. Savon was jealous of Hakeem because he thinks his parents like him more.
Several stores were robbed during the course of the month. That night he discovered Savon not in his bed, and the window wide open. It only meant one thing he snuck. From out of the house around three in the morning Savon came in and put, a bundle of money in the desk draw. Hakeem thought Savon and his friends were the culprits, because he was also out the night of the previous robberies. The next time Savon snuck out Hakeem followed him from a distance. That led him to a club where his cousin Savon had a rapping gig. They really weren’t that different after all. Hakeem and his guitar, and Savon had his rap music. After the performance Hakeem went searching for him to take him home.. Suddenly a man grabbed him and attempted to take his money. Just then Savon and his friends stepped in and stopped the mugging. The both of them left the club. They walk out closer than ever.
Hakeem and Savon strolled home, and noticed the lights were on in the house…
In the book The Time Machine by H.G. Wells, the main characters are the Time Traveler, the Psychologist, Filby, the Medical Man, the Editor and the Narrator. The Time Traveler is a very clever man who has built his own time machine. Most of the other main characters believe the Time Traveler is too clever to be trusted and therefore do not believe his story. Some of the main characters ask questions during parts of the Time Traveler’s story.
In the beginning of the book, the Narrator, the Time Traveler and all of the main characters except the Editor are talking about time after dinner. Then, they all go downstairs to see the time machine the Time Traveler has built. After seeing the scale model of the machine work, they leave the Time Traveler’s house. About one week later, a few people show up to the Time Traveler’s house to eat dinner, but he isn’t there. After the guests start to eat, the Time Traveler arrives. After eating a bit, he tells his story of the future he saw. He talks about the childlike Eloi, and how they praised him as a god. He also talks about the nocturnal, spider like Morlocks, and how they stole his time machine. After he is finished talking about the future, the Narrator sees a white figure near the time machine. After he blinks, it vanishes, and so does the Time Traveler.
On a scale of 1 to 5, I would rate this book a 5 out of 5. I give it that rating because it is a masterpiece of science fiction novels. It required some understanding of a few advanced concepts, but understanding them was well worth it. It was a glimpse into what the writers from the late 1800’s thought would be the future, and it was a very interesting view. That is why I give this book a 5 out 5.
LOCOMOTION, By Jacqueline Woodson
Lonnie has been fighting all his life. Lonnie was born premature and doctors said he would not survive because his lungs were two small and could bring in enough air for him to live. Lonnie’s mom refused to believe what the doctors said, and then she got on her knees and began to pray. She prayed by her baby’s side for two weeks, Then Lonnie started to grow from two feet to three feet to four feet and he kept growing. After that the doctors said Lonnie was going to be fine and Lonnie’s mother was able to take him home. When Lonnie turned three his little sister Lili was born. Then when Lonnie turned seven and Lili turned four their mother Liliana C. Motion past away in a building fire in December but Lonnie can’t remember the date.
Ever since Lonnie’s mother died he has been having mixed up thoughts about his life, and his mind has been spiraling out of control. Lonnie has been living with a frostier mom ever since he was seven; he feels he never had any other home. The house Lonnie lived in is small it had one kitchen, one bathroom, one couch and two rooms. The house is not much but Lonnie loves everything about it. Lonnie does no live with his sister; they have been spit up since their mother past. Even though they don’t live together Lonnie tries to visit his little sister as much as he can. Lonnie and Lili’s dream is two live to getter but everyone said that was not possible. Lili told Lonnie if he finishes reading her bible let him borrow they would be together agene.
Lonnie is in the fifth grade, he as been going to school since kindergarten and has never been left back. Lonnie’s favorite class is poetry because it his a time he can express his self on paper. Most of Lonnie’s poems don’t rhyme but that is the way he thinks poems are supposed to be. Lonnie wright’s good poems about everyone in his class expectably his teacher Ms. Marcus. Lonnie enjoys school but most of the children in his don’t, but Lonnie said it’s good to be different. Lonnie was a fast writer and fast reader, which came in handy when he was reading the bible. Soon Locomotion finished reading the bible and at the end of the book Lonnie and Lili were together.
The book i read was Carrie, by Steven King. Carietta White, also known as Carrie, is basically a social reject. She is a seventeen year old girl in high school who has no friends. One morning in the locker room at her school, girls started to throw things at her. Carrie got very upset so she told one of her teachers what had happened. The teacher suspends the girls from school for three days and they can't go to the prom, which is coming up in a week. All of the girls get really upset, but a girl named Sue Snell fells upset for Carrie instead of her self. Sue couldn't believe she did what she did that day in the locker room, she was ashamed, so she told her boyfriend, Tommy Ross, to go to the prom with Carrie. At first he wasn't so sure about it, but once he asked her and she accepted, he felt great.
When Carrie got home, she asked her mother, who is very strict and religious, if she could go to the prom. Of course she said no and told her to go to her closet and pray for forgiveness. When Carrie heard this she got really upset and made teacups fly across the room with her mind, almost hitting her mothers face. Carrie went to the prom any way not knowing what would happen.
Once she and Tommy got to the dance they voted for themselves for prom queen and king and they shockingly won. Some of the kids there were really upset so they poured buckets and buckets of pigs blood on Carrie and Tommy. When Carrie gets mad she can use her mind powers to do anything, and thats exactly what she did. Carrie made the sprinklers go off in the gym where everyone was, then she locked the doors so everyone was trapped, she made the wires backstage short circuit
and Tommy got electrocuted and died. She makes an oil spill and then makes it light on fire, about one minute later the whole school blows up and everyone inside dies. Carrie then goes home, gets stabbed by her mother and then kills her mother. Soon after, Carrie dies in a parking lot. There is a ceremony for her death.
I think this book was okay. The book was well written but I just didn't really like what it was about. I'm not really used to reading books from this genre and I don't really like this genre very much. yet, for a book from a genre that I don't even like I think the book was pretty good. One of the reasons I don't think it's such a great book is because, the author keeps telling the same exact story but from about five different points of view and it gets boring reading about the same thing over and over again. I would recommend this book to people who like horror type books. On a scale from 1 to 5 I'd give it a 3.5.
Heaven, by Angela Johnson
This book is about how, this girl Marley lives in this town called heaven. She has a brother named Butchy, a mother who has her own shop and her dad works at the woodshop store. She has a friend named Shoogy and a friend name Bobby. Marley baby sits bobby’s daughter feather and talks to bobby about her problem. Shoogy has her own crazy personality that doesn’t fit with her perfect family but that what makes Shoogy and Marley friends. Plus Marley and her uncle jack mails each other letters talking about what going on around there live all most every few days.
One day the mail man brings this mail for Lucy and Kevin. Marley thought that somebody must have got the mail wrong. So she reads it to make sure it was some body else letter. In the letter it was talking about how her uncle jack was her father and her mother died when she was a baby. After she read the letter her mother caught her reading it and told her the truth about every thing Marley couldn’t believe it. Her mother told her that Lucy and Kevin is her and pops. When her mother died her dad didn’t know how to take care of her so they took care of her. They gave her a box that her mother left her.
Marley didn’t know what to say it was like every thing in her life was a lie she didn’t know what to say to he uncle and aunt. She didn’t even know what to call them. So she went right to the person with all the answer. She told bobby what happen and he told her that when she’s ready she\ will know what to say. She understood what he meant but she needed to deal now so she went to Shoogy. They went on the tall building and screamed all there problems away. Then she opens the box and it explained every thing she stilled didn’t trust her aunt and uncle but got over it.
Review:
I think the book is real good and is very detail about the setting and characters. This book shows you a problem that doesn’t happen a lot in. they show you that this girl deals with it in a calm way. She doesn’t scream, throw fits, or runs away. She deals with what she got right in front of her. The way she feels is that she is sad that her mother died but she has her aunt and uncle who care for and love her. Plus her father didn’t just forget her he just didn’t know how to take care of her.
Flying Changes by Sara Gruen
In the book Flying Changes by Sara Gruen, 40 year old Annemarie Zimmer is finally adjusting to life on her mother's horse farm--without her father, who has recently passed away. Annemarie has a teenage daughter, who frequently gets into trouble. Annamarie struggles to control Eva. She is also in a relationship with a man named Dan, whom she hopes to marry.
One afternoon, Annemarie recieves the news that her daughter has been caught smoking marijuana at school. This leads to Annemarie contacting Nathalie Jenkins, a former olympic horseback rider, who boards girls who are Eva's age and have potential to be successful riders. Nathalie takes Eva in, where Eva falls in love with a horse named Joe. Soon, Annemarie and Eva find themselves on their way to a horse show where Eva will ride in three events. They intend to meet Eva's father and stepmother, along with her new half brother. The first day of the show, Eva has to ride her dressage test without her father, whose family has not arrived yet. After the second event, they find out that her stepmother was killed in a car crash on the way to the show, and her father is in grave condition. He dies a day later, leaving her brother without parents. The next day, Dan proposes to Annemarie, who accepts. The ending of this book suprised me a lot, so I will leave it a mystery.
On a scale of one to five, I would give this book a 3.5, because although there were some parts that interested me, it was very tedious. I read the book that this was a sequel to, and I enjoyed it, so this book was a little disapointing. The end was too bright and peachy. While I do not enjoy books with depressing endings, this "happily ever after" was over the top. I didn't hate the book, but the author definitely could have done better. A better developed plot and better pacing would have helped, as well as removal of parts that were too long for concepts that were not really related to the story. I would not highly recommend this book, but if one had a stong desire to read it, it would be best for people who are interested in horses.
In the book Ballet shoes by Noel Streatfield, the main characters are Pauline, Petrova and Posy Fossil. These three girls are orphans taken in by Professor Gum, and cared by Sylvia and a nana. Pauline is the eldest and loves to act. She gets promoted to be in plays or movies by the dance academy. Petrova is the second child. She is a sweet little girl, but not the best at dancing, or acting. Instead she likes automobiles and airplanes. Posy is the youngest, and a born dancer. She is sweet, but can sometimes be a show off by how well she can do ballet.
This book takes place in London, England. The three girls grow up in a huge house, soon accompanied by with Boarders. Unfortunately, the family is running out of money. Therefore, they are getting home schooled. Due to this, they try to help out by joining the Childrens academy of dancing and stage training. This is where they go every day to get acting, dancing and singing lessons. They spend most of their time here, tring to get promoted into movies or plays to raise money..
While doing this, they are trying to make a vow so that their fossil names will be in history books. Each of them are trying to find their own path to take. At the end, Gum comes back, and the three girls go separate ways for their dancing career. I really liked this book because it had a good story to it, and a meaning and purpose of it of not giving up, and trying to succeed. I would recommend this book to people who like to dance, or like to act or plays.
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