Thursday, March 27, 2008
MARCH 2008 Independent Reading Assignment
For this assignment, please write a brief summary and review (4 paragraphs max: 3 for the summary and 1 for your review) of the book that you read independently during the month of March (This MUST be the same book that you listed under the March Independent Reading post). Be sure to include the title of the book and author's name, as well as information regarding the setting, characters, and plot. If your book had a surprising ending, please DO NOT give it away. 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.
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L.A. My Brother Sam is Dead James Lincoln Collier & Christopher Collier
My Brother Sam is Dead is a book about a boy named Tim. The setting of the book is in Redding, Pennsylvania and begins in the month of April, but takes place for more than two years time. The Americans are rebelling against the British, who control the U.S., and Tim’s brother, Sam, wants to fight for the U.S. against the British. Sam’s father, who people call Life, is loyal to the king, which means that he will not fight for America.
One night, Sam and his father, Life, are arguing about whether or not Sam should go to war. His father shouts at him saying “No” one more time, and then goes to sleep. Sam steals his father’s gun, the Brown Bess, and enlists in the United States Army. Sam runs away from home to his friend’s house while waiting to begin his tour of duty. Life is outraged by his son’s behavior and decision, but does not go after him.
Tim and Life are going to Massachusetts to sell cattle to get money to run their tavern and to buy food. Cowboys come and attack them on their way to Massachusetts because the British own Massachusetts and they do not want them to sell food to the enemy. The cowboys leave the cattle and Tim but they take Life away with them. Tim thinks about what to do, and decides to drive the cattle home, to use them for food. Sam, on break from the army, comes back to Redding and visits Tim and his mother. He stays there for one night. Two cattle thieves sneak into their barn and steal some cattle. The cattle thieves kill one of the cows and Sam runs after them. The cattle thieves claim that it was Sam who stole the cattle. The General believes them, and no matter what Tim and his mother do, Sam was to be shot to death.
On the day of the shooting, Sam’s mother does not go to the execution. Tim does, and watches in horror as he sees his brother shot to death. When he gets home, he finds out that his father was sent to Europe on a prisoner ship and died in the middle of the journey.
I think that this was a very good book. It had a good plot, great characters, and an amazing setting. If I could rate this book, I would give it 4 out of 5. I would recommend this book to people who like adventure and tragedy.
Flowers for Algernon
Flowers for Algernon, by Daniel Keyes, is about 32-year-old Charlie Gordon, who is mentally retarded. He has worked at Donner’s bakery since he was 17. His Uncle Hermann brought him there instead of the Warren State Home, where his mother wanted him to go. This book takes place mostly in New York City, where Charlie lives and works.
Charlie has always wanted to be smart and learn how to read and write. His teacher at the Beekman College Center for Retarded Adults, Ms. Alice Kinnian, thinks that he is one of her best students because he is so enthusiastic. That’s why she volunteers him for an experimental operation to increase his I.Q. The operation was successful on Algernon, a lab mouse. Charlie will be the first human to get it. His sister, Norma, gives permission, and he goes in for the operation.
After the experiment, Charlie is learning how to read and write. He is also having flashbacks of his childhood. Before his Norma was born, his mother, Rose, was intent on having him be like all the other children. His father, Matt, was more sensible and didn’t want to waste all of their money on phony experiments. After Norma was born, his mother realized that she could have children that weren’t retarded. She started being meaner to Charlie. She wanted him out of the house so that he wouldn’t do anything to his sister.
Charlie also finds that he is in love with Ms. Kinnian. However, when they go to a concert together, Charlie gets scared of her. He hears a buzzing in his ears and feels nauseated. The old Charlie inside of him is still scared of women. When he was young, his mother used to beat him whenever he looked at girls.
Charlie soon gets thrown out of the bakery. His friends there who liked him even though they played tricks on him are now scared of him. They think it’s weird that he’s suddenly so smart. The professors who performed the experiment, Nemur and Strauss, take Charlie and Algernon to a scientific convention, where they will be shown. But Charlie hates how they are treated. Algernon has to solve puzzles to get to his food. He resents how Nemur talks about him like he wasn’t a human being before the experiment. Nemur also acts like he created Charlie. While Charlie is backstage, he lets Algernon out of his cage. In the commotion, he and Algernon escape to an apartment near Times Square.
Charlie thinks that there is a flaw in the experiment and he is studying it. Algernon’s condition is changing. He doesn’t want to do the mazes he is so good at sometimes. Charlie meets his neighbor across the hall, Fay Lillman. She is a bad influence on him because she has him drinking and not focused on his research. But she is nice, and she brings Algernon a female mouse to be his friend. One day, they find Algernon throwing himself against the wall, and the other mouse is dying, with a big gash in her side.
Charlie knows that he has to keep researching, He finds the problem, and writes a paper on it. When Algernon dies, he buries him in the backyard and puts wildflowers on his grave. Although, his father didn’t recognize him when Charlie went to see him, Charlie knows that he has to visit his mother. She recognizes him, but she has something wrong with her mind because she is aging. Charlie didn’t plan to see Norma, but she comes in. Surprisingly, she isn’t mean to him. She is very proud of him, and couldn’t wait to see him again. Norma wants him to stay, but Charlie knows that he is going to die, like Algernon. He is forgetting everything he learned. In the end, he is sent to the Warren home.
On a scale of one to five, I would give this book a three. It was interesting in some parts, and then it just got really boring, really weird, or really confusing. It may be more interesting for an older person who was interested in scientific things.
The book the I read was The Hatchet by Gary Paulsen. The main character is a boy who's name is never mentioned. The story starts off with the boy being seperated from his alchoholic parents by law and he is forced to live with his uncle and his family in the country side. There, he befriends his cousin Carl. He also learns how to farm and how to survive in the country side.
In the middle of the story the boy and Carl are trying to hunt a fox, not only to eat it but because it's hides are worth a lot. They then get lost and both know that there is a big storm coming so they try to find a good place to make camp. While walking they spot a small house and meets he man who owns it. He is known as the Foxman and he lives in the woods alone because he is deformed from the center of his nose down to his chin.
Throughout the story, the main characther continuosly pays visits to the foxman. He teaches him a lot and even shows him how to hunt a fox correctly. Eventually in the story the main character starts to realize that the foxman is developing a strange deep cough. One day, the main character pays a visit to the foxman and finds him still lying in his bed and coughing up blood. The foxman's dying wish is for the main character to take one of the fox hides off of the wall and burn the house down along with the foxman in it. The main character then does that and that's how the story ends.
I though that this was a very good book. I chose this book because it was by the same author of The Hatchet and I enjoyed reading The Hatchet. I found this book just as interesting as The Hatchet and my favorite partwas when the Foxman was dying because it was very emotional. Overall I would give this book a 4.5 out 5. I would definetly reccomend this book to any Gary Paulsen fans.
In the book The Secret Scroll the main characters are Catty and Kendra. Catty is a Daughter of the moon. She and three other girls work together to fight off the Atrox and the Regulators. The Atrox and Regulators are people that are trying to destroy the Daughters of the moon and take over the world. Kendra is Catty’s guardian. Kendra found Catty in the desert when Catty was around three years old. She looked as if she had just been in a terrible car crash. In fact she had. Her birth mother had crashed the car to keep Catty safe from the Atrox. She wasn’t safe for long. Luckily she found the other three Daughters of the moon. They all became the best of friends and worked together to fight off the Atrox. When Catty got the Secret Scroll her whole life turned around. She was able to finally meet her birth mother. She found out why her mother had left her in the desert. She found out a lot about her and her mothers life. It all helped her in the end to beat the Atrox and save her friend.
If I had to rate this book on a scale of one to five. I would give it a five. I would give it a five because in the beginning, if you had not read the book before it, it explained everything about it. Also because it kept me interested the whole time. I read the book in four days so that’s is an easy way to tell I really enjoyed the book. I would recommend this book to all girls that love drama and mysteries. That is why I would rate this book with a five.
Maus 1
by art spiegelman
Artie goes to his father Vladek and his wife, Mala hear about the story of his life back in mid '30s through the time of Hitlers Europe. In this story, the Jews are mice, the germans are cats, the polish are pigs, the french are frogs, and the americans are dogs.
Young Vladek was a textile worker in poland. Eventually he met Anja and fell in love. they went on their honey moon to find the nazis had taken power already and everyone was very afraid. Vladek had been drafted into the polish army to fight the germans. he got captured and was sent to a german camp there. he escaped in disguise and headed back home. for a while things were fine. Vladek and Anja had a son named riecheu. But then the germans started to invade poland and they had to leave. they started to live in others apartments and Vladek had to make money in the black market.then things got worse. the town they were in had everyone(who lived to see it)transfered out of it and into a concentration camp. Riecheu was sent to another womans house for safety. eventually the nazis came to that town and the person wacthing little riecheu poisoned herself and riecheu along with 2 other children. they all died. Anja and vladek were set free, as the germans thought they were healthy. they started to hide in bunkers for weeks with others. they barley had food to survive. if anyone on the nazi side saw them, there were done for. A relative soon sent a letter to them telling them to move to auschwitz, hungary where they could be free. so they went but a nazi guard caught them and they were separated and transported to another concentration camp. Thats were that story stops. Vladek obviously survied the ordeal as well as anja (who died in the '60s). Vladek in the present day lives with mala whom he loathes alot. Mala doesn't like him either and vladek is lonley and needs company. Vladeks son artie asked for the whole story because he is thinking about writng a new book about it. He wants to find his mom's diaries but he finds out that vladek burned them all because he didn't want to think about those times. and thats really where the story ends.
Maus was an awesome book. probably the best book I've ever read. I am currently reading Maus 2 to find out what happens next.
Stardust
The book Stardust by Neil Gaiman, starts off with a teenager around 18 or 19 named Dunstan Thorn. He is at the market in the village of Wall. Dunstan is planning to buy a glass flower for the girl he loves. At the glass flower shack the lady selling the flowers ends up taking an interest in Dunstan, and that leads to them having a kid. Although he made the lady pregnant he marries another girl that he is truly in love with. Nine months later a baby is found at their doorstep.
They name the baby Tristran, and he grows up in the village of Wall and falls for a girl named Victoria Forester. One night when Tristran is 17 or 18, he asks Victoria to kiss him, and when she declines he asks her to marry him. She said no again, and they watch a shooting star fall. She then tells Tristran if he went and brought her back the star she would give him anything in the whole world that he may want, even her hand in marriage. Tristran is so in love he agrees and asks his parents, his father knowing his true roots lets him go. So, the next morning Tristran leaves to find the fallen star. Meanwhile, 3 princes of the kingdom of Stormhold are out to find they're crown jewel to find out who of the three of them will be crowned the new king, and that night one of them kills one of the brothers to eliminate competition. Also, three witches are trapped, and one of the witches uses a potion of youth to go out and get the fallen star to bring it's heart back to gain more youth.
He eventually finds the star, and finds that the star is not a rock or lava or fire, but merely a girl. The girl at first hates Tristran for finding her and treating her the way he does, but slowly starts to soften up seeing that he is actually trying to help her. Along the way the star and Tristran find a unicorn and lion fighting. They save the unicorn, and at one point the unicorn runs away with the star. At this seperation Tristran in pursuit of her, stumbles upon one of the two left Stormhold princes, and they become fairly good friends despite their age differences. They come up to an inn where they believe the star is, and the witch is in disguise running the inn. A battle comes to where the Stormhold prince dies and Tristran and the star, narrowly escape. After a few more weeks of traveling they come up to a gypsy cart, that takes them all the way back to Wall. The witch stops the cart just outside of the village (She first killed the last Stormhold prince) and the gypsy that drives the cart gets through not knowing what the witch is really after. When Tristran finally gets back to Victoria, she tells him that she is actually engaged and has been since the night before she told him to find the star. He is upset at first but tells her that it is probably best that she gets married to her true love, and Tristran goes back to the star, but first has a long talk with his father. His father reveals to his son that the gypsy lady is his real mother, and when he goes to her she tells him that she is the daughter of the former Stormhold king and now that all the other princes are dead Tristran is the last male heir to the Stormhold throne. Tristran does not want to leave because he wants to stay with the star he has fallen in love with. They eventually get to Stormhold after several years, and the star and Tristran serve together as king and queen till Tristran dies, and still the star stays queen.
I loved this book. I felt it had beautiful language and was written spectacularly. The way he pieced together three stories to all come together at the end to make one almost surprising kind of ending was masterfully done. Neil Gaiman is a fantastic writer, and I would love to be able to read more of his books. I would suggest this book to anyone who enjoys something adventurous that can be happy with the romance that is twisted into it, along with some violence. It was kind of awkward at first having love adventure and violence all in the type of story that it was, but it turned out amazing.
Summary:
The name of the book I read this month is called The First Part Last by Angela Johnson. This story takes place in New York. This book is about a boy named Bobby. He is a regular sixteen year old teenager. Bobby likes sports, music, and just hanging out with his friends. He also has a girlfriend named Nia.
His girlfriend is pregnant. His parents and her parents were very upset. For the past few months he was under a lot of stress and made many doctor appointments. His life made a total change. Now he has to learn to be a father.
Nia was thinking about giving the baby to adoption. Then they also had a choice of keeping the baby. Soon the baby was born and they had to make a decision. They decided to keep the baby but Bobby had to take care of the baby on his own. After Nia had the baby her body was damaged. Her brain was damaged and she probably wont be able to walk. Bobby moved from New York to Ohio in a small town. Is father and his mother taught him how to be a father. Now him and his baby have a wonderful life.
Review:
In my opinion I think this book was great. It kept me wanting to read more. I was asking myself every time I read this book, what is Bobby going to do with his baby? The only negative thing about the book was that it was sometimes confusing. The book would keep going from now to then. That confused me a lot. I would recommend this book to teenagers. It could teach a lot of teens a lesson about what it takes to have a child.
The Characters of gingerbread are Cyd Charssie who is a wild coffee addicted girl who got kicked out of bording school due to bad behavior and because she got pregnant from her ex-boyfriend justin.Shrimp Cyd's current boyfriend is a nice pint sized surfer and artist that every girls dream boy.Nancy, Cdys mom is a forty year old mom in twenty year olds body. Sid nancy stepdad is a total workaholic.
Cyd and shrimp are like the perfect couple until Cyd has to go to new york to meet her real dad and he decides to dump her. So as she arives to new York single and ready to have fun she meets this boy who is to old for her but she still has fellings for him, and turns out to be her fathers driver who is twenty one and she is only sixteen. But the way Cyd is she still want to be with him. Cyd finds out that real dad Frank isnt what Cyd thought he would be he doesnt even acnowlage that she is his daughter. So she cant wait to go back home.
A few days before she leaves she finds out that Nancy and Cyd are there and she is MAD. Although she anted to go home sh wanted to soend her last few days in New york in peace. Turns out that they came up to go school shoppin with her but Cyd still doesnt believe it.
She cant wait to go back home so she can work things out with Shrimp and everyhting. She tries to call the day before she left but he didnt answer. Will shrimp and Cyd get back together? Or will she date Her dads driver. Find out by reading Ginger Bread and if you want more read shrimp by Rachel Cohn.
I give this book a ten out of ten. When I was reading it I didnt want to put it down beacuse everything was confusing(in a good way) and to figure it out you had to keep raeding and that was what made the book so good.
A day no pigs would die
By: Robert Newton Peck
The book I read was “A Day No Pigs Would Die”. The main character of the book is Robert along with his father Haven. They are a religious people who fallow the Shaker laws. This story takes place long ago on a farm. Walking home from school upset, he finds Old Apron in severe pain, Apron was giving birth to what the thought was one calf, but there were actually two. Rob helped given birth to beautiful calves named Bib and Bob. Also Apron had a goiter lodged in his throat. After one calf came out Rob reached into his throat to remove the goiter, just then Apron bit his had and dragged him along the ground until he became unconscious. Mr. Tanner carrired him home once he saw the incident. That day Mr. Tanner gave Rob a pig which he named Pinky for his heroism. Pinky and Rob soon becomes best friends. A week later Rob healed from his injuries and Mr. Peck put him right to work.
School ended in the middle of June. Rob rushed home and made the dumbest move of his summer break. He shown his report card to his mom and his Aunt Matty, she was the only one who could read. He got a D in English. That was inexcusable for to her, so Aunt Matty tutored him. She made it known how weak his English skills were. That night Rob woke up in the middle of the night and heard a lot of commotion in the barn. In the morning Haven told Rob a weasel snuck in and killed a chicken.
A couple days passed and, Mr. Tanner invited Rob to the Rutland Fair. He came to show off the beauty of his oxens. Impulsively. Rob decided to enter Pinky in a competition. Pinky won, for the best-behaved pig. Once the retuned from the fair, Rob was angered by his dad decision having to kill Pinky because it was barren. They killed Pinky in the slaughterhouse. That was first time Rob saw his dad cry and the last. Later that day Haven, his dad died in his sleep.
On a scale of one to five I would rate this book three. It was an interesting book but, the book had some meaningless pages. It took to forever for the climax to take flight, which was late in the story. Although it held my attention, I wouldn’t recommend this book. I believe it could have been better.
JJTV
JAMAL-JUMAH-THOMAS VINSON
My March independent reading book is called things fall apart by Chinua Achbe. This book is about a great warrior that is apart of a clan called Umuofia that’s in Nigeria. The main character in Okonkwo he is a troubled man because, of the past his father has. Okonkwo’s father’s name is Unoka he was a coward and always asked to borrow money from someone. Unoka also left the village with many unpaid debts. The life Okonkwo’s father lead haunts him because, Okonkwo’s twelve-year-old son, Nwoye looks like he may end up like Unoka in Okonkwo’s eyes. While a tribe near Umuofia’s is settling Umuofia get a virgin and a fifteen-year-old boy, Ikemefuna for the tribe.
Nwoye begins to bond with Ikemefun and they have this special attachment. Even though Ikemefuna begins to call Okonkwo “father” Okonkwo refuses to show any for him. Ikemefuna ends up staying with Okonkwo and his family for three years. Nwoye looks up to him as a big brother. By Nwoye looking up to Ikemefuna he begins to become more masculine. Okonkwo is proud of his son and is pleased. One day Okonkwo is delivered a message by one of the village elders the message says that Ikemefuna must be killed. Okonkwo is told not to take part in the death of Ikemefuna because; he calls him “father”. The tribesmen take Ikemefuna into the forest telling him that he is being brought back to his old tribe. Once, many of the tribesmen attack him he runs to Okonkwo for help. Okonkwo doesn’t want to look like a coward in front of him tribe so he cuts Ikemefuna’s throat, disregarding everything the village elder told him.
Okonkwo becomes very depressed and isn’t able to eat, nor sleep. Soon, one of the tribesmen that took part in Ikemefuna’s death, died. At the funeral Okonkwo’s gun explodes and kills his friends sixteen-year-old son. Even though this was an accident it is against he law, and Okonkwo has to take him and his family into exile for seven years. Many more events happen next in this book but I wouldn’t want to spoil it, so you should really read it for yourself.
I would most definitely recommend this book. It was so good. All the events and the way it was wrote was magnificent. I very much so enjoyed reading it, I never knew what would happen next. I do recommend this book but to people who enjoy reading and can read well. This was a good book but it was almost written like poetry. I personally loved the book though.
The book I read for my March independent reading book was Flowers For Algernon by Daniel Keyes. The book was about a man, named Charlie Gordon in his early thirties, late twenties. He was born as a retarded boy, yet his mother always thought he would become normal like everyone else. She would always tell him "Your going to be smart, like everyone one else." When his parents would fight, he would have the tendency to go in his pants. Not only did he go in his pants when his parents fought, but also when he was nervous or scared. Once Charlie's sister, Norma, was born, his mother didn't want him because of how stupid he was. His father was always by his side but one day, Charlie's mother was going to kill him if his father didn’t take him to the Warren home(the Warren home was like an orphanage.)
Growing up as a boy, Charlie's uncle had be taking care of him. Once he was 17 years old, he had been working a bakery. Living in the Warren, Charlie has been going to a college for retards. There he decided he wanted to become an experiment to test if a certain treatment would make him smarter. When Charlie committed to this, he had to go through a lot of tests for example: looking at splatters of paint (to see what he can see,)and going against a mouse. The mouse he goes against is Algernon, and he is an animal that was tested to see if he could get smarter too. During the process of this experiment, Charlie became smarter, smarter then a normal person. But something strange has changed.
Charlie has become someone no one seems to like anymore. Everyone things that he is the smart one and "Mr. Know It All." When Charlie seems to notice his behavior, not only is he acting weird but so it Algernon. So Charlie works weeks and weeks to figure out why him and Algernon. When he finds out that their behaviors change has something to do with illumination, but wait something happens to Charlie and Algernon. (Must read the book to find out.)
I somewhat liked the book Flowers For Algernon. I think that at times this book got very boring and made me want to read a different book. But at some points I thought it was interesting. When I found out he was going to become smart, that made me want to read more and more to find out when he does become smart. I would recommend this book to people in high school, who are very smart because of all of the big words that made me very confused. I would rate this a about a 3 out of a 5.
The Pigman & Me
This story takes place in Staten Island NY. It is about a boy names John Conlan and his “Pigman.” His pigman is Nonno Frankie Vivona. The reader finds out what a “pigman” is later on in the book. John also has a friend named Lorraine.
The main character of this book is John Conlan. John is also the narrator of this book. He is a 15-year-old high school student. He is a sophomore. He lives in Staten Island NY. His best friend is Lorraine Jensen. John is a “Good looking boy.” He is also said to be a good student. His family is boring and has no zest to it. He is also extremely bored with school.
John’s relationship with his parent isn’t too great. He thinks of her as disturbing burdens. Johns father ran away when he 2 years old. He and his family were constantly on the road.
If I had to rate this book I would give it a 4 out of 5. I thought it was a little slow in the beginning. That’s the only reason it didn’t get a five. I thought it was interesting in the middle and end though.
Other works by Paul Zindel include:
My Darling, My Hamburger
The Pigman’s Legacy
Loch
To Take a Dare
The book I read was The Hatchet by Gary Paulsen. The main charecter is Brain Robeson. His parents recently got divorced and the word divrorce keeps coming to his head. This makes him very sad. Brian is flying to Canada to see his dad and before he goes his mom gives him a Hatchet.
Brian Robeson is in a plane going to Canada and the pilot haas a heart attack.Brian is forced to crash-land the plane and escapes just as it sinks in a remote lake.
Brian figures out how to make fire. He forces himself to eat whatever food he can find, such as turtle eggs. He deals with a porcupine, bear, skunk, moose, and a tornado. He eventually becomes quite a craftsman, crafting a bow and arrowspear. During the story he struggles with memories of home, and the bittersweet memory of his mother, for if she had not had an extra lover, there would not have been a divorce or the plane crash to follow.
Brian is saved when a tornado hits the woods, tossing the plane wreckage towards the surface. Brian crafts a raft from raw matierials to get to the plane. When Brian was working his way into the plane, he drops his hatchet in the water which makes him realize how important the hatchet was to him. After diving numerous times he retrieves the hatchet, and was able to successfully locate the survival pack containing a transmitter, packs of food, and a AR-7. Brian unknowingly activates the transmitter thinking it was broken, and is rescued by a fur trader who comes in a water plane.
I would recommened this book to people that like mysteries because from the start of the book you never know what is going to happen next.
In the begining of the story Jimmy Little, the fourteen-year-old, woke up for school. After dress up and everything Jimmy is late to school. Jimmy is sent to the detention room for his lateness. When Jimmy came home from school he found his dad, Crabs, outside of his house. After Crabs escaped from prison for armed robbery and killing a man, Crabs needed Jimmy to come with him to Chicago for his job offer. Jimmy's grandmother, Mama Jean, agreed to let Jimmy go with his father. Mama Jean also gave Jimmy $50 if things doesn't go right Jimmy could go home on a bus or airplane.
As they travel in the lies about what his said in Mama Jean's apartment. Crabs really has a kidney failure and he had escaped from the prison hospital to convince to his son that he didn't kill a man and rob a store. Crabs and Jimmy were traveled to Arkansas so that Crab's friend Rydell could convince the police that Crabs did not kill a man or robbed a store. When Crabs and Jimmy arrived at Rydells house, Rydell refused to convince the police that Crabs didn't commit any crimes back then.
The police came to Rydell's house to arrest him, but Rydell told the police that it was Crabs that committed the crimes. The police believed him because Rydell was white and Crabs was black. Crabs died in the prison hospital because of his kidney disease. Jimmy was sad when Crabs died because thay had a lot of fun while they were in Arkansas. In the end Jimmy traveled back home to Mama Jean.
Review: From a scale from 1 to 5, I would give this book a 5 because this book is breath-taking, eye-opening and suspenseful. I would recommend this book to young adults and adults. When I read this book I never wanted to put it down. This book had me guessing what will happen in the next chapter. This book teaches you how it would feel if you didn't have a father or mother to be there for you in life.
Title: popcorn days &buttermilk nights
Author: Gary Paulsen
The book was about a boy named Carley who was four teen. He got in to lots of trouble and his parents didn’t know what to do with him. Then Carley mother thought to send to his uncles’ farm. That summer after Carley had to go to court he went to his uncle David farm to change or become a better person. But the thing was that Carley didn’t really know why he did what he did. When Carley got there he started becoming the family he was saying thank you having mature and waking up at 4 clocks in the morning.
Carley never knew that people live like David and his family did. They never had moneys because they got paid in food and other items. The children pasted down there clothes to the young’s because it not like they could go to the mall and buy clothes. In the two weeks he was there he got in to a fight with tinker one of David’s children. After the fight David had to talk to Carley and tell him that things don’t work like that around here like that.
After that talk Carley started working in the shop with David while he was working there he became the gentle men his mom wanted him to be. Then David got an idea about a fairs wheel and other rides. Carley knew it was crazy but he knew David wasn’t and helped him build the fairs wheel with left over mental. By the end of the week they were done because the town heard what they were doing and help. When the fairs wheel was done the town bought in horses to make horse ride and they also bought games and food. The whole town build a fair for there children. By the end of summer Carley was a new person and no body could remember him after.
Flowers for Algernon
by Daniel Keyes
This book was written completely in "Progress Reports" that Charlie Gordon, the main character, was writing. At the beginning, he had a lot of spelling and grammar mistakes but as the reports progressed he lost his mistakes and gained new intellect and curiosity. He went to a school for retarded adults where his teacher was Alice Kinnian, who was very nice to the 32 year old man. He worked at a bakery with his "friends". She had been the one to recommend Charlie for the experiment.
The experiment was conducted by Dr. Nemur and Dr. Strauss and it was going to help his brain absorb information quicker. They had tested it on a mouse named Algernon who at the beginning had been smarter than Charlie. After the operation began taking effect, the people at the bakery were beginning to notice something different about him. He was beginning to understand their ridicule, and he had been promoted from a delivery boy to a real employee. Charlie fell in love with Alice at about the time their IQ s were equal, but she had become afraid of him because she knew that in a matter of months or even weeks, he would pass her IQ. He began remembering scenes from his childhood, about his mother, father and little sister who he hadn't seen since he was little because they had given his away to his uncle. He was fired from the bakery because the rest of the workers hated him.
Dr. Strauss and Dr. Nemur had a convention to take Charlie and Algernon where they referred to them only as test subjects, which angered Charlie. He let Algernon looses in the room to scare everyone, caught him, and the two of them ran away. Charlie made friends with his neighbor, Faye, and fell in love with her. Then he realized that the scientists had made a mistake and decided to begin his own study. Algernon's behavior had become erratic and awhile after he found that his knowledge was deteriorating. Algernon died and Charlie began putting flowers on his grave. He visited the Warren State Home, where he was going to live when the deterioration progressed far enough. At the very end of the book, his writing had many errors, and he reminded the reader to put flowers on Algernon's grave.
I think this is my new favorite book. It had drama, mystery, science fiction and romance. The story line was so amazing to me that the book had to be pried from my hands so I would stop reading. I loved the way the writer had Charlie's mistakes in his writing at the beginning because it really gave you a perspective on how he was feeling. I would recommend this book to anyone who likes mystery and science fiction, but also the person would have to be patient and have to understand a lot of medical terms. Even though I didn't understand all of the words when he was making mistakes or when he was a genius, I could really feel Charlie Gordon's emotions.
P.T. 7/8-3,
The First Part Last
By: Angela Johnson
The first part last is a book about a 16 year old boy named Bobby. He is your everyday classic teenager living in New York, but everything soon changed. His girlfriend, Nia, is pregnant and this plays a major role in his life. Instead of hanging with his friends K-Boy and J.L. he is too busy being a father.
At first when he learns Nia is pregnant they both begin to worry about how they will care for the new baby. They needed to decide whether to keep the baby or have someone adopt it. But Bobby soon figures it out after Nia dies going into a coma after giving birth. Bobby realizes its his job to take the baby into his hands and be the best father he can, also having a little piece of Nia to remember her by. Bobby learns taking care of a baby at such a young age isnt easy but knows deep down its what Nia would of wanted.
I would rate this book a five. I liked the book very much and would enjoy reading another by this same author. I would recommend this book to anyone! It really teaches you a lesson about abstinence because if you dont wait there are so many troubles that can face you in life. It also is a great example of what some teenagers go through and how lucky you are to not be in such a difficult situation. Overall a really GREAT book!
The Wave is a novel by Todd Strasser. Laurie Saunders is the main character of the book. She is in a senior high school history class. It is in Palo Alto, California, in 1969. The teacher’s name is Ben Ross and he is teaching about World War II. In the beginning of the book, her classmates can’t figure out why no one stood up and stopped the Nazis. They were disgusted at what they did.
Ben Ross decided to do an experiment. He made a thing called The Wave. It was a group that all worked together. They had a motto: Strength Through Discipline, Strength Through Community, Strength Through Action. Other students started to go into the group. They would even skip their other classes. Ben Ross turned into a non-mean dictator. The whole school started to be obsessed with the Wave.
Laurie Saunders realized what they were doing. She didn’t want to be in the Wave, but everyone got mad at her when she said she didn’t like it; even her best friend and boyfriend. Laurie’s boyfriend then figures out what the Wave was doing, it was like World War II, everyone thought they were doing the right thing, but they weren’t. Read on to find out how they stopped the Wave.
I was very interested in this book. One thing you might not have known was that this was a true story, it actually happened. When I finished the book, I actually finished in an two hours, I was amazed that something like this could actually happened. This book would be for someone who likes history. It is a short book, 138 pages, but I learned a lot about World War II.
If you Come Softly by Jacqueline Woodson is the story of Elisha and Jeremiah’s —who are affectionately called Ellie and Miah respectively—integrated love. Both of these high school students attend Percy, a middle school in Manhattan. From the first day of school when they lay eyes on each other, both of them know they are meant to be together. However, Ellie and Miah’s lives and backgrounds are different. Ellie is a wealthy Jewish girl from Manhattan, while Miah is an African-American boy and lives in Brooklyn.
After the first day of school, quite a few months pass and still, Miah and Ellie can’t get their minds off each other, especially when they are both put in the same History class. Soon, they begin leaving school together and going to Central Park to be together. Whenever they are together, people never fail to give them looks of shame. This is all simply because they are both from different ethnicities. When Miah brings Ellie to Brooklyn to have dinner with her mother, even she is shocked to learn that the girl whom her son talks so affectionately is a Jewish girl. Also, when Ellie tells her sister that she is dating an African-American boy, she can hear the disgust in her voice over the phone.
Although their loves seems to be okay, there is still one big problem: Miah wants to finally get the chance to meet his dear Ellie’s parents. Ellie is very hesitant to do so, now knowing that her parents may indeed not like the fact that she is dating someone of another race. Although this is how she feels, Ellie can never bring herself to let Miah know this. So, Miah is very persistent in expressing his desire to learn more about Ellie, through her parents. Will he finally get the chance to meet her parents, or will it be too late by the time she is ready to introduce them? Read If you Come Softly by Jacqueline Woodson for to learn what happens.
On a scale of one through five, I would rate this story a four. At the beginning, this book was very slow paced and even bored me at times. However, as the story line progressed, it became more and more indulging and opened my eyes to a whole new world: one with interracial dating involved. Even though I have read a few other novels which touch on this topic, this story really expressed the way it felt for Miah and Ellie to be in an interracial couple. If you Come Softly was an excellent book and I would recommend it for any type of person, boy or girl, black or white, who is interested in learning about interracial couples, and everything all the issues it can have.
A Separate Peace
By John Knowles
The book that I read for March was A Separate Peace by John Knowles. It is a story of two best friends who are seniors at a boarding high school in the United States during World War II. The main Characters are Gene and Phineas (a.k.a. Finny). Gene is a smart boy who always turns to his friend, Phineas, who is a major athlete and a daredevil who loves to break the rules.
The summer before their senior year at Devon, they try to have as much fun as they can. Phineas breaks a school record, they go to the beach, but, sometimes, they climb a tree and jump into the river. Phineas does it very often, but Gene is always nervous when he climbs up the tree and takes that brief second to trust yourself and let go of the branch. Gene eventually got mad at Phineas because the thought that he was trying to mess up his studies, so when they were about to jump, Gene shakes the branch just enough to knock Finny off into the water below.
Finny is severely hurt after that and his days of sports are over. His leg suffers a large break and he is lucky to be walking again. Finny leaves Devon after that and he plans to come back to school around thanksgiving time. Gene goes to Finny’s house and tries to tell him how the accident happened, but then leaves before he finishes. As the days go on, the fear of war is being spread over everyone. Phineas wants to fight in the war, but no armed forces will accept him due to his injury. Once Phineas returns, they have a court session to try and figure out the accident and when he finds out that is was Gene, he storms out of the room and severely hurts himself again. During a surgery, his heart suddenly stops and he doesn’t wake up.
I thought that this book was okay. It was very hard to get into it in the beginning, but it got more exciting towards the end. I would probably give it a three out of five. I would recommend this book to teenagers who sometimes feel over shadowed by their friends because a lot of the time, Gene envies Phineas. Even though it takes place in the forties, sometimes they talk about the same sort of things as teens today
My March independent reading book is called "You Know Where to Find Me" by Rachel Cohn.
At the end of the first chapter, one of the main characters, Laura, commits suicide. Laura and Miles were biological cousins, but they grew up more like sisters in one of the wealthy part of Washington, DC. They were very different from eachother though, superficially; Laura was thin and pretty and popular and smart and rich (Miles is, in her opinion, none of these things). She had tons of friends and an acceptance to Georgetown (Miles is a year behind in school, and has only one friend). But Laura had at least one vice–she and Miles used to get high together in their old tree house. Although Laura was very popular and had plenty of friends .. she always turned to drugs. Miles had more of a reason for this.. but it still wasnt the right thing to do.
Now, Miles’s whole world is falling apart, and she’s spiralling dangerously downward. She is fat and ugly and alone and, after Laura dies, all she wants to do is get high. Apparently, Laura’s pill popping and then suicide didn’t deter (deter-to turn aside, discourage, or prevent from acting, thesaurus :] ) Miles in the least.
Miles isn't completely alone though. She still has her best friend Jamal, and his family.
The ending of this book somewhat starts at the beginning.
I felt this book to be one of the most inspiring books i have ever read. I loved this book because I felt that the topic very much related to real life and something that I could connect to. If i had to rate this book on a scale from 1-5 I would rate it a five. I would recommend this book to a middle school female.
That Was Then This Is Now. S.E Hinton
It is centered on the relationship between two best friends, Bryon and Mark, and how they begin to grow apart. Ever since Mark's parents shot each other in a drunken fight over who is Mark's real father, he has been living with Bryon Douglas, his best friend for as long as they can remember. Now they are spilting apart Bryon is now becoming more concerned with his girlfriend. While Marc is becoming more distant and isolating his self and making alot of money.Bryon is also growing tired of the seemingly never ending street fights that plague their town, while Mark can't seem to live without them. When Cathy's brother, M&M who at this point Cathy thinks is smoking marijuana, runs away, Mark finds him in a free love commune under the influence of hippies. Bryon and Cathy find him there, on a bad trip, and take him to the hospital, and are able to talk to him, but M&M will never be the same again. Bryon then finds drugs under Mark's mattress, and discovers that Mark had been selling drugs to other young teenagers. Bryon is devastated and the only thing he can think about is M&M and while thinking about him, he decides to call the cops on Mark. This ruins both their lives and they are never the same again. When Bryon visits Mark at the prison, Mark tells Bryon that he hates him. Bryon and Cathy just fall apart after what happened to Mark,Cathy winds up going out with Ponyboy Curtis Bryon just can't focus right, and M&M tells Bryon of the lasting effects the LSD had on him. Bryon is left miserable, wondering about everything that has happened but knowing nothing will ever be the same. At the end Mark states the famous quote that Bryon once told him - "that was then, this is now".
The View From Saturday is the story of a sixth-grade teacher, Mrs. Olinski, the Academic Bowl team she chose in Epiphany, New York. The team is made up of four students named Noah Gershom, Nadia Diamondstein, Ethan Potter, and Julian Singh. They decided to call themselves the Souls. The students meet and become friends before being chosen for Mrs. Olinski's team through a series of Saturday afternoon teas hosted by Julian. The students come together after each one of them has gone on a journey, where they realize the kindness each of them have done.
Mrs. Olinski is paralyzed from the waist down and in a wheelchair. She was injured in a car accident, which killed her husband years ago. When Mrs. Olinski first started teaching, she worked in a school whose principal was Mrs. Margaret Draper. Mrs. Draper and Mrs. Olinski became friends, and their friendship continues, even after the accident. Mrs. Olinski returns to teaching with alot less confidence after her accident. She is easily stunned by the pranks and cruelties of certain members of her class. Mrs. Olinski has been changed by her accident, but sixth graders have also changed from interested children to challenging teenagers.
Mrs. Olinski's team beats the other sixth-grade classes, then the seventh grade, and then the eighth grade. The Souls win the district championships, then the regional championships. At the finals, The Souls work together, but Julian gives an answer that is not given credit by the judges. He pushes the answer until he is penalized. When the judges determine that Julian's answer is actually right, the points are rewarded, and The Souls continue their drive to victory. After winning, The Souls honor their teacher and coach, Mrs. Olinski, by walking off the stage and standing on the main floor level.
I think that The View from Saturday was a good book. It was a little confusing in the beginning though, because it skipped from character to character. It was very descriptive and painted a picture in my mind.
Absolutely Normal Choas
By Sharon Creech
This book is about Mary Loe Finney. She has to write a journal for school over her summer vaction. The book is made up of entries in her journal. In every entry, she writes about what happens to her that day. In the beginning, her cousin, Carl Ray, comes to live with them because he is looking for a job. When he arrives he seems really snotty to everyone. Later on, Mary Lou realizes he was acting like that because he felt homesick. When he arrives, he meets Mr. Furtzes, Mary Lou's neighbor. Carl Ray starts working for Mr. Furtzes.
While this is happening, Mary Lou has to clean Carl Ray's room and make his bed. She despises it but her mother makes her. She goes to the pool on her spare time. There she meets up with Alex Cheevey, the most popular kid in school. He talks to her and asks her to meet up with him the following day at the pool. The next day after they hang at the pool, he walks her home. They start going on dates.
Mr. Furtzes dies and everybody is really sad. Carl Ray has to go back to his home, and Mary Lou is force to go with him. Mary Lou is tricked by her other cousins and feels really homesick. On the way back to Carl Ray tells Mary Lou about how his real dad isn't Mary Lou's uncle. He doesn't tell her who it is but except that he lives in her town. If you'll like to know what happens read the book.
I would scale this book a 3 from a scale 1 to 5. The book was well written, but not quite my type of book. I would recommend this book to someone who likes mysteries. In the book it was kind of obviuos what was going to happen next. It was somewhat of an interest book, but not through the whole time I read it.
Flowers for Algernon by Daniel Keyes
Flowers for Algernon is about a man named Charlie Gordon. Charlie has a low I.Q. He is offered a miracle surgery that could potentially fix his I.Q. problems. Charlie, wanting to become "smart," decides to have the surgery. Afterwards, he meets a mouse named Algernon. Algernon has had the same surgery, and is extremely smart. Charlie and Algernon "race" in a maze. Shortly after the surgery, Algernon easily beats Charlie. This upsets Charlie. He attends classes with a woman named Ms. Kinnian. He gets smarter and smarter, eventually far surpassing the intelligence of his peers.
Once Charlie is smart, he begins to have flashbacks of his childhood. He realizes that his friends are not really his friends, but instead use him as a joke. He starts to hate his doctors. He also falls in love with his former teacher Ms. Kinnian, whom he calls Alice. Love is confusing for him, and he also falls in love with a woman named Fay.
Eventually, Algernon becomes lethargic and isn't able to run the maze that he used to excel at. Charlie decides to do some reasearch. He makes an amazing discovery which sends him into a downward spiral. He knows his intelligence is going to go away, so he visits his mother. Shortly after, he goes to the Warren Home because his intelligence is gone.
I enjoyed this book. I would give it a 5 out of 5. I was attentive all the way through and it took me very little time to read it. I would recommend this book to people who are interested in science.
For my March independent reading book, I read where the Lilies Bloom by Vera and Bill Cleaver. The main character in this book is Mary Call Luther. Mary Call is a fourteen year old girl who is very brave, and is always determined to do what needs to be done. Mary Call has three other siblings; Devola who is eighteen, Romey, their little brother, and Ima Dean who is five years old. This book takes place in North Carolina in a valley called Trial, in a little house. In this valley, Mary Call, Romey, Devola, and Ima Dean are taking care of their sick and dying father. Before their father dies, he asks Mary to keep some promises. One of them was to always keep the family together and not take charity. The other one was to make sure that Devola doesn’t marry Kiser Pease. (The 30 year old very rich man who owns their property. He will also make them separate and move out of the house when their father dies.)
Then, one day, Mary Call and Romey went to visit Kiser, and saw him dying. They said the only way they would help him is if he gave them the entire land of Sugar Boy field. Kiser agrees, and they now own their house. After, a few days later, Mary Calls father, Roy Luther dies. But, to keep their family together like he wanted, the family couldn’t tell anyone of his death. So, Mary Call, Ima dean, Devola, and Romey decide that the only way to make money and support themselves for the winter is go through the sugar boy field and wild craft for different kinds of plants to sell to the store.
Everything is going good, besides covering up their father’s death, and also with the thought that winter is coming. Winter is a bad time for the Luther family because they can’t get plants, and get money for themselves. Also because they are poor, and don’t have electricity, or warm water, and a lot of food. So then, when winter blizzards come, they have to try to survive, and not freeze to death by their un stable house. Soon after, Kiser’s sister Goldie claimed she owned the land and told them they had to move out in 2 weeks. Mary Call accepting it had a plan to move into a cave. But then, one day, Devola and Kiser announce to her that they are getting married. Even though Mary Call doesn’t agree with it, she accepts it, and they soon get married. By then, people knew that Roy Luther had died, but they didn’t have to leave because e Kiser bought the property back from his sister. So, now they still have their home, and their family is still together.
I thought this book was pretty good. Some parts were a little sad and depressing but I thought it had a good story to it, and a good purpose. I would recomend this book to people who likes to read stories about problems, and how they solve it.
The name of my book is Birth of the pack by Petru Popescu. The characters of this book are Lily, Nikki, Arielle and Grazia. The main character of this book is Lilly. Lilly is a sixteen-year-old girl who always thinks negative of herself. Lilly is tall, has light brown hair, with almond brown eyes. This teenager loves to play soccer. Lilly breaths and talk soccer all day. Her best friend she hangs out with is Nikki, Arielle and Grazia. These four girls had been friends since they were little kids and still are.
In the beginning of the book, Lilly finds out about how this very popular girl named Andra who wants to know if it is true about the Lilly having magical powers. Andra finds out that Lilly had powers when she overheard Lily’s fathers friend talking too his wife about how Lilly’s father had powers. Lilly did not pay her any and because she did not believe anything Andra has said. In the middle of the book, Lilly finally finds out for herself that she has powers and so did her friends Nikki, Arielle and Grazia and her friend Andra was not laying. In the end of the book, Lilly has a task of fighting the bad ones, which are a pack like hers and her friend, but the difference about them is that they are very bad.
On a scale one to five, I would give this book a four. I would compare this book to others that I have read because this book is fiction and I love fiction because it takes it to a level that I cannot even explain. What I like about this book is that it talks a lot about power, friend shi, and wolf’s ant I love reading some books that are about fiction in it.
BW 7/8-1
Book:The Outsiders
Author:S.E. Hinton
In the beginning of this story Ponyboy lives with his two older brothers. Popsoda is the nice one and cares about everyone around his live, but Darry is the tuff one in the family. He is just like his father and very strong and tall. Ponyboy is very quiet and doesn't really like to be the center of a attention. He aslo does like to be around a lot of people.
One day Ponyboy finds himself in a circle of Socs. Socs are rich kids and they a gang and try to bully people that they want. But then Ponyboy's gang, the Two-Bit Mathews comesand helps him. Ponyboy got a small cut on his neck, but he never really got hurt like Jonny did. Jonny got cut and purple spots all his face when he got mugged. After that Jonny said that he would kill anyone that cried to mug him again.
After Ponyboy and Jonny hung at the drive-in movies, they were walking back to go home, they see Socs and go see them. They start to fight, but Jonny pulls out his blade and kills one of them. Jonny and Ponyboy go hide in a church, because if they go outside they will be killed, but then someone goes to far and burns the church. Find out what happens.
I thought the beginning of this book was a little boring and after Ponyboy and Jonny are in the church, but everything else was good. I would give this book a 3.5 out of 5.
Hoops by walter dean myers.
The book hoops is about a boy name Lonnie Jackson. The book tapes place in the 1990s in New York. Lonnie loves to hang out with his friends and play basketball. He’s on a team also and is the leading scorer. He dreams to make it to the NBA. He’s good enough and has a chance. He’s 17 and has a job at a motel. Lonnie is a good and brave person. He isn’t afraid of any one. Their was one incident in the beginning of the book where he robbed robbers. He stole booze and the whole block stole some to. Lonnie is smart and likes to think ahead of time which some times gets him into awkward situations. Their was one time he was face to face with a drunk man with a knife and he didn’t back down.
When Lonnie and his friends want to be entered into a tournament they have all the potential and have a shot at winning but all they need is a coach. When they finaly find one they didn’t expect him to be such a good coach. The coach used to be like Lonnie, fit popular and was very good at basketball. Their was a time when coach cal was younger and it was his last game before the decision of him being drafted into the NBA would be made. People bet on the game and he was forced to throw the game away, meaning loose on purpose. If he didn’t do that he could of made it to the NBA and became very wealth and successful. Ever since his life has been going down hill.
He wanted to become a coach to help make young basketball players not make the same decision he had made. So then Lonnie is in the same situation later on In the book. it’s the finals and his team is about to win. Its all up to Lonnie and he makes the winning shot. Even though people threatened cal not to play Lonnie cal still did it cause he wanted the best for him. Lonnie didn’t give into the pear pressure either.
I would rate this book a five out of five because it kept me interested. I like basketball so it makes the book more interesting to me. Their was a lot of action and I picture the story in my mind. Over all it was a great book and I recommend it to people who like basketball.
In the book Nothing But The Truth Philip is a freshman in high school who is an amazing runner. Yet, Philip is the type of student that feels he can slack off and still make it by. Philip tries to talk his way through grades and detention. Everything is going fine with that plan until the track team coach says that Philip can't try out because he got a D in Miss Narwin's english class. Philip starts to mope around and just holds a grudge towards Miss Narwin. One day in homeroom Philip sings the national anthem. Normally everyone is told to stand silently as the national anthem is played. Miss Narwin (being his homeroom teacher) decides to send Philip to the vice principal's office. The vice principal gives him a warning. That night Philip tells his parents. His parents tell him to keep being patriotic. The next day Philip songs the national anthem again. This time when Miss. Narwin sends him to the vice principal's office the vice principal decides that Philip not only has to leave school early but Philip is also suspended for a day. Philip is appalled and when his father comes home from work that night he tells him everything. Philip and his father decide to go talk to their neighbor, Mr. Griffin about this because he is running for the school board. Mr. Griffin takes notice to this issue and decides that whenever he makes speeches he is going to include this story. Well, Mr. Griffin does and all the news papers are writing about how wrong it is that students cannot show their patriotism. Miss Narwin feels personally attacked. Everyone is in shock about what is going on. In the Philip still doesn't get to try out for the track team and everyone thinks that Philip loves to sing. No one ever finds out why Philip actually started to sing the national anthem.
I think this book was an okay book. If I had to rate the book on a scale from 1-5 I would give it a 3.5. I would give it this rating because the book was really good at giving detail and it always kept me interested. The thing I have wrong with it is that the ending was really bad. It kind of wasn't an ending.
Rumble Fish:
I read the book Rumble Fish by S.E. Hinton. The main character is Russell “Rusty” James. Rusty James is a greaser that gets into a lot fights in and out of school. The Motorcycle Boy is Rusty James older brother. Every time Rusty gets into a big situation or fight, the Motorcycle Boy always helps him out in some way. For example in the beginning of the book Rusty James had to fight this kid. The Kid was bigger than him but like Rusty always says “Nobody is a challenge for him.” So it was time for the fight and both of them where ready. But the other kid was punk and he had to bring out a knife but that didn’t scare Rusty that much. Rusty couldn’t bring a knife because he had a suspension of knife possession Rusty waited for him to make a move and he did, Rusty just kicked the knife out his hand and punched in the face. The kid got up, picked up his knife and cut Rusty’s arm. After that the kid didn’t get a chance to do anything because Rusty got mad and just tackled the kid. If it was for the Motorcycle Boy, Rusty would have stayed there punching the kid and maybe he could have killed him. So for the Rusty not to get in big trouble the Motorcycle Boy stopped Rusty.
Then another time Rusty got into another fight. Rusty got hit real bad, stabbed, and knocked out. Most likely you would think the Motorcycle Boy would be there but his was nowhere to be found. Cause of this Rusty got beat badly and was sent to the hospital. This wasn’t good for Rusty or for his reputation because Rusty usually wins and someone is always looking to beat him at his own game which is his specialty. Fighting! After all this Rusty was mad fun and was nobody. He was known to be the kid that lost. Also the Motorcycle Boy was never to be seen again. Now Rusty had no friend what so ever! His friends from before just left him hanging!
Review:
On A scale from 1-5 I give this book a 4 because it was a good book and kept me reading most of the time but sometimes it was slow moving but it was good. I also like the book because it was very intense and about teenagers like me so that interested me a lot. i would recommend this book to anyone who likes to read! This is very general but I'm telling this book will keeping you and mostly everyone will like!
The Serpent Never Sleeps
By: Devin Ray Author: Scott O’Dell
Serena Lynn works for a wealthy english countess. Serena is in love with the wealthy english countess’s son. His name is Anthony Foxcroft. One day accidentally Anthony kills one of his own servants. Due to his killing he must flee the country on a boat heading to Jamestown. Serena loves Anthony so much that she joins him as he runs away from his country.
Serena and Anthony go threw a long and hard journey. On the journey one time Anthony was taking captive aboard an unknown ship. One time Serena and Anthony was taking on a life threatening sea journey also Serena and Anthony had a bad shipwreck on Bermuda. Through all the problems that they had on their trip their love for one another stayed strong. That is until one day Anthony was drowned to death.
Serena was left heart broken after what had happened to Anthony. Serena thought that life holds no appeal. Serena then returns to England. At England Serena volunteers to aid in luring Pocahontas back to Jamestown. Serena might volunteer to aid but nothing will heal her broken heart for Anthony. Or will it?
This book takes place in the seventeenth century.
I thought that this book was a little boring and dramatic. The book had a lot of sad parts and romantic parts. The book was pretty long but it did have some parts where there was a lot of action. Overall I would give this book a 3 out of 5. I would recommend this book to people that like pretty long books and like an adventure book with a little bit of sad and romantic parts.
Marvin Williams
7-8-3 Mr. Gallo /8th
The Wave
Todd Strasser
SETTING:
Most of this story takes place in and around Gordon High School in Palo Alto, California in 1969.
CHARACTERS:
Laurie Saunders – a high school senior at Gordon High who was editor-in-chief of the school newspaper (The Grapevine). She was also very intelligent and popular.
David Collins – a high school senior at Gordon High who was Laurie’s boyfriend. He was a running back on the school’s football team; also described as tall and good-looking.
Ben Ross – the history teacher at Gordon High School.
SUMMARY:
Ben Ross’s senior history class was studying World War Two. Ben showed the class a film about Adolf Hitler, the gas chambers and how the Nazis murdered more than ten million men, women and children. After the film, a lot of the students were stunned by what they saw and questioned how something like this could happen; why didn’t anyone try to stop them. Ben explained to them that after the war, the Germans claimed they did not know about the killings. Some of the students then said that they would never let such a small group of people rule them.
After the class Ben started thinking about what the students had said and decided to try an experiment with the class. The next day he told the class that he wanted to talk to them about strength through discipline. From now on in class, they would all sit up straight in their chairs; if they were asking or answering a question they would have to stand up next to their chair and first say, “Mr. Ross”. They tried it for a while and all of the kids seemed to like it. The following day he added on strength through community then strength through action and soon The Wave was created. Mr. Ross gave out cards showing membership of The Wave and asked them to recruit members.
The Wave began to spread thru Gordon High School and became a big thing. Laurie saw how The Wave was affecting her friends and classmates. She didn’t like it and didn’t want to be a part of it. The Wave had also caused her to have a fight with David and her best friend, Amy was angry with her for writing negative stuff about The Wave in the school newspaper. The Wave caused complete chaos in Gordon High School.
If you want to know the ending, just go to Mr. Gallo’s library and get the book.
REVIEW:
I liked this book; it was sexy. I give it a five out of five. I would recommend this book to anyone because this book is too sexy not to like.
Orson Scott Card's book Xenocide is about a man named Ender. If you have read any of the other books this is the same Ender in all the books that became a war hero by committing Xenocide and killing off the 'Bugger' invasion force that was never really going to attack Earth again. Ender is now on a new planet called Luisitania and his sister, Valentine, is coming. He has a wife named Novinha, who he married while she had had children of her own, and children, young adults actually. On this planet is another species, the Pequenos. Their a sentient pig-looking species that walk on two legs and have hands. Another, hidden, species is another colony of Buggers that won't attack humans. These buggers signed a treaty with Ender, now their closest human ally, that they would never draw fire on humans again. This deadly world also houses the Descolada virus. This virus kills everything it gets inside of except the Piggies. If a human were to eat food that hadn't been properly nurtured for and the Descolada remained inside it they would die, a painful death. When Valentine arrives their trying to get rid of the virus because it's beginning to adapt to the virus-killing sprays sprayed everywhere. So Ela, one of the daughters of Novinha and Ender's step-daughter, comes up with a plan and they go into 'Outside' space which is basically a parallel universe that wishing for things happened and the natural laws of the world didn't apply. So she came back with a cure and the Piggies, seeing that the Descolada let them get into the ALL-IMPORTANT Third Life, which was life as a tree, found that the Recolada, the antidote, let them still pass into tree-hood. Ela administers the new virus.
THE END
I LOVED this book. Orson Scott Card is one of my favorite authors and I had to pick up this installment of the book. I rated this book a 5/5 because, though I didn't go into detail, their were many plot-twists and sudden changes that kept me interested.
Flowers for Algernon By: Daniel Keyes
Flowers for Algernon is a book about a mentally challenged man named Charlie Gordan. Charlie is in his thirty's and attends The Beekman Intstitute for Mentally Retarted Adults. Charlie works at a bakery where he has "friends" that like to laugh at him.
Charlies teacher at the Beekman Institute, Alice Kinian, sees that Charlie has a great ambition to learn and recomends him for an experimental surgery that in theory can boost Charlies IQ. Charlie wants to be smart so he agrees to the operation. After the operation Charlie competes in a maze against Algernon a mouse who has had the same operation. Algernon beats him and Charlie is mad that he is not smart yet. Over time though with hard work Charlie's intelligence surpasses that of the scientists that "created" him.
After a confrence in Boston that went awry Charlie flees to New York and gets an apartment. Here he studies Algernon in a 3D maze that he built for him. Eventually the scientists find Charlie and they convince him to come back to the lab and study with them. Charlie begins his own research on Algernons behavior which leads to an interesting discovery that Algernon's intelligence is deteriorating. Eventually Algernon dies, but what will become of Charlie?
This book was very interesting and kept me captivated till the very end. On a scale of 1-5 i would rate this book a 5. I rated this book a 5 because it held my attention and was about a unique idea. I would recomend this book for science fiction fans. I think Daniel Keyes is an amazing author and that this is one of the greatest books i have read.
THE BARN by:AVI
This book is book is about a kid named Ben. The story takes place in the countryside of Oregon. Ben has to come back from Boarding school because his dad gets a stroke and he has to take care of him. Ben is a very intelligent individual. He is only 9 years old and he is already the smartest person in his family.
Ben's father had a plan of building a barn before he got sick. Ben knew his father would get better if he built the barn. He got his sister to help with the building of the barn. It is a very difficult task and at times it does not seem possible or even logical for Ben that they can build a barn while the father is in bed. Although he doubts his own capacity, he continues to work on the project of building the barn.
When Ben finishes the barn he realizes how much one can accoplish on one's own, even in difficult moments, such as having a sick parent. Once the barn is completed, Ben's father regains his health.
I thought this was a very good book because of the way the author describes the different scenes. It feels as if you were there. I also liked the flow of the story and the ending. On a scale of 1 to 5 I give this book a 4 because I think it is well written and tells you about life. I reccomend this book to readers that like realistic stories and details about building a barn.
Absolutely Normal Chaos
By Sharon Creech
In the book Absolutely Normal Chaos, a girl named Mary Lou Finney is the main character. She has gotten a writing assignment to do over the summer, write in a journal. Everyday, Mary Lou writes in a journal about what happened that day. In the beginning Mary Lou's mom says that her cousin, Carl Ray is coming to live with them so he can look for a job. Mary Lou is less than excited and doesn't want another person in her house.
When Carl Ray comes, Mary Lou doesn't like him at all, he stuffs his face with all the food, he wakes up very late and Mary Lou has to clean his room and make his bed. Later Mary Lou realizes that he only does this because he is home sick. Soon Carl Ray starts working for a man named Mr. Furtz, but, that same day, Mr. Furtz goes to the hospital and soon dies.
Carl Ray gets a phone call from a lawyer about money and scheduling a meeting. Mean while, Mary Lou begins to date Alex Cheevy, the most popular boy in school. Carl Ray goes to the meeting with the lawyer and Carl Ray finds out that he is being given 5,000 dollars. He buys a car, afterwards he goes home to virginia to show his family the car and takes Mary Lou. While she is there Mary Lou finds out some very interesting details or Carl Ray's life, For instance, Mary Lou's uncle isn't really Carl Ray's father. Who is his real father, and what happens with Alex Cheevy and Mary Lou? Read the book and find out.
On a scale of 1 to 5 i rate this book a 3.2 because most of the book kept me interested but there were many parts of the book that i felt were dry and i found myself getting easily bored. I also think that Sharon Creech shouldn't have added in the different stories in greek mythology. Though i do like greek mythology, i think it didn't really connect with the story and i wanted to get on with the more interesting parts, rather than read a story that the character in the book is reading. Yet, overall I think this was a very good book and i certainly recommend it, especially to people who have read Walk Two Moons, by Sharon Creech.
The First Part Last
By Christopher R O’Neal
Setting
The book The First Part Last took place in many locations but the main location the book took place in was Bobby’s Moms apartment. Bobby lived with his mother in an averaged sized apartment. Bobby’s mom kept the apartment very clean because she wanted to set a good example for bobby. The apartment has one bathroom, two bedrooms a kitchen and a small living room. Bobby loves his house and is glad that he has a place to live. Every thing changes when bobby’s newborn baby moves in.
Bobby
Bobby is averaged sized with long brown hair and eyes. His two best friends names are K- boy and J.L they support bobby and his child. Bobby is popular in school but does not focus on his education because all he thinks about is his daughter. Bobby never played many sports he was more laid back and cool. Bobby’s girl friends name is Nia but now she is not just a girl friend she is the mother of Bobby’s child. Bobby hopes to become a good father but is not going to be as easy as he thought.
First
In the beginning on the book things start to spiral out of control. On Bobby’s sixteen birthdays his girl friend gives him some very bad news. Nia told Bobby that she was pregnant, at first bobby could not believe what his girl friend was saying but soon he found out that she was very serious. Bobby did not know what to say this was clearly his worst birthday he ever had and it was going to get worst. Bobby had to tell his mom and dad about Nia being pregnant. Bobby and Nia did not know how their parents would take it but they were not going to be happy.
Part
During the middle of the book Bobby and Nia find out that the only way they can live a normal life is for them to put their baby up for adoption. Bobby and Nia did not know what to do they want there baby but they did not want to be responsible for the baby. Bobby decided that he wanted to keep the baby but Nia did not feel the same. Nia wanted to party and hang out with her friends she was not ready to be a mother. They had to make a big decision, and they both decided to keep the baby and name her Feather.
Last
At the end of the book Bobby and Nia try to find the best place to raise the baby. Bobby and Nia did not know if they should raise Feather where they already lived in Brooklyn or if they should move to Ohio with the rest of Bobby’s family. It was another big decision but they decided to…
To fine out what happens next read the book The First Part Last.
Rate
Out of 1-10 I rate this book an 8 because it had a lot of interesting points but there was not any action, but the book was very dramatic.
Anne Frank: The Diary Of A Young Girl
This story is similar to a memoir. Anne Frank is a thirteen year old, Jewish girl living in Holland in the 1940's, while the Holocaust is starting out. Her life is perfectly normal. She goes to school, has friends, a sister, a mother and a father.She often gets in trouble in school for talking, and is assigned papers titles "chatterbox" and the like for her constant chatter and inability to stop.
One day, her life changes forever. She and her family are persuaded to go into hiding because the Nazi regime is becoming stronger, and life is dangerous for Jews living in certain places during that time. Once the Frank family goes into hiding, they are forced to live discretly, quietly, and in close quarters with some people whom they are not too fond of. Arguments break out, and problems arise, and Anne is often saying how she dislikes people very much, and this, that, and the other about everyone in the house. She feels put upon sometimes, and like everyone is out to get her. They alaywas pull through, though.
But things are getting worse for Jews. They are being killed for no reason, in the middle of the street, they are being taken from their homes, and shoved in trains to Concentration Camps, where they are brudally beaten and treated unfairly and inhumainly. They are often killed, aswell. Anne has ambitions, and it seems to me, the more that i read her entries, that as time drew on, she knew that she wouldn't really ever acheive any of her goals. Anne's diary ends suddenly, and the reader can guess what happened to her, and her poor family. At least, I could.
I really loved this book because i love stories about that time in history. I have an understanding for it because I know a lot about what went on, and I am the granddaughter of two survivors. It was really sad to me, how she kept saying things about her children, and when she grew up, she wanted this and that. Because i knew a little about this story, so I almost cried everytime she mentioned it because I knew how her life would turn out, and end. I loved this book a lot.
For my March independent reading book I choose Flowers for Algernon by Daniel Keys. The main characters name is Charlie Gordon, a mentally retarded thirty two year old who works as a janitor in a Bakery. Charlie also goes to the Beekmen Collage Center for Retarded Adults to help him with his literacy. One day he meets with a doctor named Professor Harold Nemur who treats Charlie as a lab rat other than a human being. The other main character in this book is Charlie’s teacher at the Beekmen Collage Center for Retarded Adults her name is Alice Kenyan.
Charlie Gordon is a mentally retarded thirty two year old that goes to the Beekmen Collage Center for Retarded Adults where he is taught by Alice Kinnian. Alice recommends that since Charlie is her best student that he should go to a Professional named Harold Nemur about a breakthrough procedure that can improve his mental capacity. The same experimental procedure was done on a mouse named Algernon who had an excellent breakthrough. As Charlie becomes more intelligent, he realizes that he is attracted to Alice. She insists on keeping their relationship professional, but it is obvious that she is also attracted to Charlie. When Charlie discovers that one of the bakery employees is stealing from Mr. Donner (the bakery owner), he is uncertain what to do until Alice tells him to trust his heart. Charlie confronts the worker and forces him to stop steeling Donner. Not long afterward, Charlie is let go from the bakery because the other workers are disturbed by the sudden change in him. Charlie grows closer to Alice, though whenever the mood becomes too intimate, he experiences a sensation of panic and feels that his old disabled self is watching him. But soon Algernon’s intelligence starts to slip and he goes back to his erratic behavior. Soon Algernon dies and Charlie thinks that the same thing will happen to him and it does. Before Charlie’s intelligence wares off he visits his mother and his sister. They are both happy to see him but his mother gets a mental relapse and tries to attack him with a butchers knife. Soon his intelligence where’s off and he forgot that he was no longer checked in to the mental collage so he goes and makes Alice cry. Charlie eventually checks himself into a home for disabled adults and his last wish in the book was that there was to be fresh flowers put on Algernon’s grave.
I really enjoyed this book it was not your average book but it was interesting would recommend this book to teenagers or adults. I wouldn’t recommend this book to children because I almost cried when Algernon died. I would give this book a three out of five because it wasn’t a horrible book but it doesn’t reach the standards of my favorite books.
The Chocolate War
by Robert Cormier
This book is about a boy named Jerry and his determination to not sell chocolates for a school fundraiser. He is the only one not selling. At his high school there is secret society called the Vigils. They give people assingments to do certain things. Their most recent mission is Jerry. He has to refuse to sell the chocolates for ten day then take them. The ten days is up and Jerry still refuses to sell the chocolates. This then becomes a big problem, nobody defies the Vigils.
They begin to harass Jerry. Phone calles in the middle of he night with no answer and at school he has been shunned. Nobady will talk to him. Even the teachers don't treat hime the same. Archie the leader of the Vigils pulls Jerry aside. Archie tells Jerry a way to redeem himself, a raffle. This way they will sell the chocolates, there is one catch though, Jerry has to fight the toughest guy in school. The students will decide who hits who through the raffle.
At the raffle all is well until its time for the fight. Jerry steps into the ring,secretly knowing he's makinga big mistake. The first punch is for Jerry. He swing and hits the guy in the jaw. After a couple of hits won comes up that is not allowed but the dont do anything about it. Jerry blocks the punch and the other guys gets made and starts to beat him up all the way. All of sudden the light go out, then on again. There stands one of the teachers. At the moment Jerry is knocked out, the teacher has called an ambulance for Jerry who is beaten up extremly bad. The teacher makes everyone leave and go home. When the ambulance got there it takes Jerry to the hospital.
I thought that this book was okay. It could have been better. It bored me at a lot of parts and the ending was bad and let down the feeling that something bigs was goin to happen. I would probably give this book a three out of five because it was deffinatly not the best book I have ever read.
The book, The Martian Chronicles by Ray Bradbury, is about Mars, Martians, and the men who come to Mars. The Martian Chronicles consist of many short stories with many different characters. Many conflicts arise with the characters and the Martians and sometimes other humans. Also, there are many unsolved conflicts on Earth that the characters run away from. The final thing the characters have to deal with is the planet Mars itself.
In the beginning of the book, expeditions are launched to see if Mars is inhabitable. The first three expeditions fail because the Martians kill them. On the fourth expedition, the Martians are found to be dead. One of the explorers goes crazy and starts to kill a few of the others. He is then killed by the captain who gives a good report to mission control for colonization.
Soon after colonization finishes, the Martians reappear and the atomic war on Earth becomes more intense. A large explosion happens on Earth and a S.O.S. gets sent that requests that the colonists come back to Earth. Many people leave Mars to go back to their friends, families and other people in their lives. After a while, some people escape to Mars and watch as the Earth give its final explosion.
In conclusion, I like this book. It makes you think about what the human race has done wrong. Also, it is very deep and has a lot of back-story in it. It also contains some very thrilling moments mixed in with psychology. On the whole, I recommend this book to those who like science fiction novels.
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