Dear Friends,
I just finished the book Don’t Judge a Girl By Her Cover by Ally Carter. This is the 3rd book of a Science Fiction book in the series, I‘d Tell You I Love You But Then I‘d Have To Kill You. I loved all 3 of these books but especially this one because of the action and suspense. I rated this a 9 out of 10 because Ally Carter doesn’t give you much time to recover from the last “mission”. But I still love her writing because she explains and describes everything (even if that’s a spy’s job to do.) I hope she makes another book because she had a VERY suspenseful cliff hanger at the end.
In this book the Gallager School for Exceptional Girls has to work EXTRA HARD to keep the most precious secret they have. Yes the girls are VERY exceptional there but the twist is that they are spies. Macey McHenry, the most well know girl in America, finds out she is the last descendant of Gilly Gallager, the spy who made this school. Macey’s dad is running for Vice President, but there is a little twist that happens in Boston at one of their campaigns. Lets just say Cammie (The main character) and Macey battle some people that hate the Gallager girls and Macey gets a broken arm and Cammie gets a concussion and at the end of the book Cammie’s Aunt Abby gets shot! (Wonderful school right?) Macey got really mad when she found out her three best friends, Bex, Liz, and Cammie, knew she was Gilly’s great-great-great-grand daughter. Macey ran to the one place she knew she was safe. “’It had better be,’ I said as Bex came to a stop. ‘Mr.Solomon owns it.” She ran to the hottest teacher’s lake house. Mr. Solomon’s house was safe for the time being, but the had to get Macey to DC so she could be with her parents, who don’t know that it is a school for spies.) So four sixteen-year-olds set out across America in the coolest but motherly car in the world. (A minivan with a engine that could go 247 miles per gallon.) You will have to read the series to find out the REALLY REALLY sad/ cliff-hanging ending. (Its really exciting.)
What got me really hooked on this book was the action and suspense of it all. For one, their spies. How many spies do you know? Plus all the futuristic inventions, even though they are in “present day” that they have, its all so cool! Plus Ally Carter leaves you off in the biggest surprise, cliff hanger, I’VE ever read. (You’ll have to read what happens!) Plus every other chapter there is fighting, and there isn’t much blood. Only two or three times was there blood. That’s why I got really hooked on this book.
If I were the author, I personally would have had more romance between Cammie and her “boyfriend” Zach. There was a seen on a train where they had to hide in a bed but he never kissed her like in the last book. I was a little mad! The only kissing was Macey and the first son to-be, Preston! (THAT WAS A TWIST! They hated each other before, or so I thought.) And the surprise kiss at the end from Aunt Abby to Mr. Solomon. (“Someone had to.”) I was hoping for more romance, not just action and revenge and killing. It’s all so hurtful!
I say the theme of this book is that “Someone knows.” Not only because it is repeated across all books, but that you might not think anyone knows what you do, or what happened, but someone knows. It’s like The Giver (Not to that extreme… but….) Someone is always watching, always listing, always hunting for a good “mission”. You might not know it at the time, but if you REALLY want to know something, or get something, you have to work hard for it. Nothing of importance will be handed right over to you. Remember “Someone knows.”
I don’t understand why the people who were supposing going after Macey, are going after Cammie! The whole book he secret service was protecting Macey when the real danger was Cammie, what if she had gotten hurt? (Like Zach or her mom would have let them.) Also how would they know Cammie was going to be in Boston? There are many things I hope she makes another book to clear up some of my questions!
I’d compare Ally Carter to Lois Lowry. Lowry wrote the book The Giver. The reason I compare these to writers is because how they explain and describe everything that’s happening and what’s around the characters. They both have their own way in describing, like how Ally Carter describes the people, while Lois Lowry starts to describe the colors and the room and how Jonas sees red. Even though they have to describe differently, they both do a good job and it’s like a I see a movie when I read these books.
I really liked Don’t Judge a Girl By Her Cover. I wouldn’t recommend it to guys because its got a love story in it also. I sure hope Ally Carter makes another book to answer my questions and to finish off the story! Remember, Don’t Judge a Girl By Her Cover. Also, “Someone knows” Watch out, you never know who could be a spy!
Your Friend,
Maddie Griz
Tuesday, April 27, 2010
Monday, April 26, 2010
The Sight by David Clements-Davies
4-26-10
Dear friends,
I have recently finished reading The Sight by David Clements-Davies. I rated it an 8 out of 10 stars for a couple reasons. I usually don’t enjoy books that are written in the perspective of an animal, but this was only half true. Otherwise this was an amazing book.
I was reluctant to start this book, because it was from the perspective of an animal, in this case a wolf. It also had to do with mystical attributes, which typically brings down the value of the book in my opinion. The first chapter enhanced that opinion. I mainly only read this book for a lack of anything to read. However, the book soon began to lay the setting and the book was starting to take off. This is not a quick read by any means. I read it over a span of several weeks.
The narrative voice came from several beings, but all of them wolves. They came from Larka, Hutser, Morgra, and Kar. Even though there are two opposing forces narrating, it gives little away to the plot and increases the suspense. Although it took a while to get used to, it did enhance the book.
There is a big idea that comes from 517 pages of text, and I think it is stated by the spirit of Larka, which says that love is what shields us from the pain and fear and loss. What shields us from ourselves too. I think that is somewhat self-explanatory, but for the purpose of this letter essay, I think that with love, all evil, pain, and suffering is balanced in the world. Without pain, there is no relief. Without rain, there is no sun. Without sadness is no happiness. With out hate, there is no love.
There is a quote in the book that describes what they call “The Vision”, that will enslave all the Lera (animals) forever. It also includes what we know today. “At first in crouched, its vack furred wih hair like the coat of the wolf. In its paw it held a club and, as the animals watched, it rose on its back legs. Straighter and straighter it stood, and as it did so, it began to change. The fur dropped from its body, and its hiad lifted higher and higher. As it looked around, the nearby Lera ran in terror from its angry gaze. Suddenly Larka knew what they were witnessing as they watched this creature that had been an animal and now stood before them transformed.
“The great secret,” she gasped. “You are Lera too”. Before them was a human. The secret was a vision of the ancient past. Of the dawn and ascent of Man.”
The vision is an image that comes in all nearby animals’ mind. The reason they say that they will be imprisoned by Man forever because the knowledge that they will be wiped out forever soon by Man. Then Man will be wiped out by an ice age. Then there would be nothing on the earth at all. The vision also describes that Man was also an animal, but forgot their instincts, and began creating buildings and destroying the forests.
I gave this book 8 out of 10 stars for just a couple reasons. The author makes up a few to many words to substitute other words. It also has a beefed up cheesy plot. Almost classic bad guy-good guy fight, good guy wins, both die, ending neutral. Otherwise this is a great book. I would only recommend this to people want a challenging book to read that will take a while to finish. Happy Reading!
Sincerely,
Brandon Reitsma
The Maze Of Bones by Rick Riordan
Dear Students,
I read the book 39 Clues Book One The Maze Of Bones By Rick Riordan. It was a great book. I give it a rating of 8.5/10. This book is a series. I think it will eventually have 39 books in the end. All of the books are by different authors, but I don’t like that part, because the author in the other books kind of seem out of tune with the book sometimes.
The genre of this book is science fiction because there is no such thing as the 39 clues. This book is Historical Fiction also because it has characters in the past. It talks a lot about Benjamin Franklin.
The theme of this book is earn it. Don’t have something handed to you. If you want to get something, work for it and earn what you are working for, you will feel a lot better about what you got if you do.
This book is about Amy and Dan, their grandma just died and they discover that they are Cahills. Every historical figure is a Cahill, Abraham Lincoln, Benjamin Franklin, all of them Cahills. There are four branches of Cahills, because there were 4 brothers and sisters, who had a fight and tried to kill each other back in the 1500’s. The branches are Lucian, Tomas, Janus and the Ekaterina.
What passage struck me from this book was “What you now hold is a bank voucher. It shall only be activated if and when you renounce your claim to the challenge. If you choose so, each of you may walk out of this room with one million dollars and never have to think of Grace Cahill and her last wishes again. Or… you may choose a clue-a single clue that will be your only inheritance. No money. No property. Just a clue that might lead you to the most important treasure in the world and make you powerful beyond belief… Or it might kill you. One million dollars or the clue. You have five minutes to decide.” This passage starts the whole thing. It is when we discover the first clue which is:
RESOLUTION:
The fine print to guess,
Seek out Richard S________.
Dan and Amy take the challenge and so do the other 6 teams. Team One Ian and Natalie Kabra, Team Two, The Holts, Team Three, Alistair Oh, Team Four The Starling Triplets, Team Five Irini Spasky, Team Six Jonah Wizard and Broderick Wizard, Team Seven Amy and Dan Cahill.
Read this book. I recommend it for anyone all ages. It is a great book, the first book is the best of them all. You will have no problems of finding a book to read with this series, it already has 8 books, the ninth coming out in May. I give this book a 8.5 out of 10 rating because it is intriguing.
Sincerely, Ty F.
Chains
Dear Friends,
A book I have just finished reading is called Chains. This book is written by Laurie Halse Anderson. This book is historical fiction. I usually do not pick up this sort of book, but I thought I should give it a try. When I was finished with the book I just had to sit back and let it sink in, that is how powerful it was. This genre of book never appealed to me before, but now I am eager to try other books like it.
One thing about the book I really liked was the characters. The author really made them become real in your mind. With just a few sentences she had you in the book, no longer in 2010 but in 1776. She had you inside the character's minds, feeling what they felt. I thought the author did a fantastic job of character development. She also blended in all of the other elements of a story with the characters very well. You could smell the gun powder in the air when there was a battle, and at the same time you were frightened because one of the characters was. The whole book just flowed through you and you were lost in the story. I had a very tough time putting it down.
The theme of this book is slavery. The main character is Isabel, a slave who has just lost her master to old age and is sold to another master in a whole different state. This book portrays her struggles, hardships, and achievements. Slavery in this time was at a high point, you rarely found someone selling a slave, or a slave without work. However some masters were letting their slaves free. This was a detail I found to be interesting, I thought that most slave owners held on to their slaves until they were forced to free them. The thought of masters letting their slaves go free never crossed my mind.
A quote in the book is "Ruth stood their like a carved statue, her finger still held to her lips. I took another breath, slower than the first, and tried not to think on the newly sharpened knives on the kitchen steps." The reason I liked this quote is the thought of going to get the kitchen knives. It made me wonder how many slaves revolted against their masters, and if it was a smart choice. Later on in the book I came back to that thought and decided it was a bad choice because your master could always sell you to an even worse master, or beat you to death. The cruel part of the beating is that it was allowed, in the book it says Isabel's new master once beat their other slave until her arm broke. Her arm never healed right so they sold her like a rag doll.
A connection in the book I made was to the title. It gives you clues as to why the author chooses that title. It is towards the end of the book when Isabel is trying to escape. Isabel says she is not going to let her master chain her, or her soul. That was a moment when all of the pieces fit together perfectly. Another connection was the illustration on the front cover of the book. It shows a girl with her hands up with a ribbon symbolizing chains with the title on them. On one side of her hands is a bird with a british flag, on the other side there is a bird with an american flag. This really connects with the book in so many ways. However you do not realize it until you read the book. I know I interpreted the chains part of the cover, but I did not take another glance at the birds. It connects because in the book the British loyalists are fighting theAmerican patriots, so each of the birds represents a side in the battle.
The battles taking place in the book were quite confusing to me because I did not know what side would be the good and what side was the bad. After I finished the book I looked back by where the author's note is and I found a section where the author answers questions. There it said you should not think of it as a good/bad situation. You have to choose which side on your beliefs and your needs. Many of the slaves in the book joined the battles and their were some on the loyalist's side and some were fighting for the patriots.
This book is really powerful in it's own way and I think anyone would enjoy reading it. I hope whoever has an interest in learning more about history, but does not like non-fiction books will pick up this book. It is a great story, and a source of information. However you do have to pickapart some of the major details in the story.
Sincerely,
Lauren V
Sunday, April 25, 2010
Heat
Heat
04/25/10
Dear Ms. Monaco,
I recently read the book Heat by Mike Lupica. I would rate this book a ten out of ten! I liked the way the author developed Michael as an underdog who was really good at baseball. It helped with all of the different struggles that Michael and his brother had to face. I also liked this book because it was a baseball story and I really enjoy baseball.
This book reminded me of a movie that I saw called "Mickey." "Mickey" is about a kid and his dad who are trying to get away from these IRS agents who are hunting them down. Mickey is also breaking the rules and playing little league when he is 13. It is a lot like Heat because there are many challenges that they must face to stay hidden.
The main character Michael Arroyo is a kind kid who is living a tough life in a tough neighborhood. First off Michael's dad has died and he is trying to keep it a secret. Now Michael and his brother are struggling to keep the apartment they live in and manage keeping their father's death a secret. Michael is a very kind and honest kid. In the beginning of the story Michael takes out a thief by throwing a baseball and knocking him out. Michael then becomes a neighborhood hero.
A quote that Carlos, Michael's brother, kept saying was, "But, you know we have to keep Papi's death a secret." The reason Carlos kept saying that was because Michael needed a constant reminder to keep Papi's death a secret. I think this would be really tough because it would be hard when you just wanted to ask for help, but you couldn't for your own well being. I think that would be a really tough decision.
One of the most striking parts of the book was when Carlos almost got arrested for scalping tickets. He was doing this because he had gotten fired from one of his two jobs and he was really falling behind on bills. He was really desperate and he didn't want to tell Michael. Then Michael saw him getting caught by the cops. That shows how rough Michael's life was.
This was a really good book, and I really enjoyed the read. I am going to recommend this book to other people because I thought it was a really good book.
Sincerely,
Billy Torgerson
Dune Letter-Essay
Dune Letter-Essay
April, 24 2010
Dear Everyone,
I recently read the book Dune by Frank Herbert. It is a book about a teenager named Paul who is the heir to the throne of the Atreides. The emperor ordered the Atreides and all of their kingdom to move to a planet called Arrakis. Arrakis is one giant desert and is the only known planet that contains a valuable spice called Melange. The Harkonnens (the 'bad' people) invaded the kingdom of the Atreides (the 'good' people) and Paul and his mom were forced to flee. The plot is around Paul's battle against the Harkonnens to get his kingdom back using his super-human ability to see the future.
This is a book set in the future but they use many of the same words used in medieval times such as castle. I am sure the castles are made out of something other than stone, probably some kind of high quality metal and the castles are shielded. It is in the future though because they can travel through space to other planets and do other things you would see in a story like Star Wars.
This book is a mix of science fiction and fantasy. It is science fiction because it is in the future using technology such as force fields, traveling through space, laser guns, and advanced machinery. It is fantasy because of unbelievable things like the fact that Paul has superhuman mind reading skills. I think it might be possible to have superhuman mind reading skills in the future but not to the extent they are used in the book. Later on in the book Paul is able to see into the future which is obviously not possible.
The author has a very complex twist on seeing the future. Paul can see the future but it's not like the straight-forward future. If Paul makes different choices then different events will happen in the future, but he can't see the choices that will lead to the events. He only sees the events themselves. If he's in a situation where small changes would lead to a completely different outcome, he can't see past that point in time. I liked the way the author presents this ability of Paul's because at the beginning when Paul is figuring it out, the reader discovers it at the same time with him.
There are some random quotes in the book that I didn't really like. For instance Paul says random things about the future without explanation as to why this is meaningful in the story. At one point it mentions that he and his sister, who is yet to be born, will have a great battle - which never happens. So the reader may remember Paul's random predictions as they read until they get to the last page and realize the prediction had no meaning in the plot.
It makes the story very interesting the way the author just makes up words. For instance he could have just said “2 liters” but he says “2 literjons”. I thought a literjon was some really huge amount of water. As it turns out, water is very scarce and valuable so it is a huge amount. Here's a hint that I didn't know until I was done - If you are reading this book and don't know what he's talking about, there is a Dune dictionary in the back of the book.
Here is a quote from the book:
She compressed ultimate scorn into her voice and manner and said “Well-l-l, now ---how does it feel to be a killer?” Paul stiffened as though he had been struck. He met his mother's cold glare and his face darkened with a rush of blood. Involuntarily he glanced toward the place on the cavern floor where Jamis had lain.
I chose this quote because it shows Paul is realizing what happens when you kill a person. He's starting to learn his role may be greater than he imagined and have more responsibility and consequences. Leading up to this paragraph he was challenged by a man named Jamis. Jamis wanted to test Paul and see if he is the “Maud Dib”, the savior from the legends. Paul had to defend himself and if he was not the Maud Dib, he may have been killed.
I rate this book a 9 out of 10 for many reasons. This book has a very complex plot and I am sure that if I read this book again I will understand even more of the story. This would make it a good book to double or triple read. The environment Frank Herbert creates is easily believable. Much of the technology they talk about could exist many years from now. This book has a new set of ideas different from any other book I've read. What other books have this kind of futuristic sight like Paul's, are set in the future, yet have many medieval themes? This book also has something that will captivate almost anyone - war, politics, religion, futuristic technology, complexity, surprises, good, evil, and people that can't decide whether they're good or evil. I can see why they say this is a classic.
Sincerely,
Logan k
The Uglies.
4/25/2010
Per. 4-5
Dear Friends,
I recently finished reading the book The Uglies, by Scott Westerfeld. I would rate this book a full ten out of ten. I loved this book because it was so easy to relate to Tally Youngblood, the main character, even though her world, and our world are so different. In Tally's world, everyone is 'Ugly' until age sixteen. At sixteen years-old, the Operation will take place. The Operation morphs your features, changing nearly every aspect of how you look. After the Operation, you become a 'Pretty', but only a few know what will really happen during the Operation...
This book reminds me so much of The Giver by Lois Lowry.The government controls so many things in your life, even the things they don't realize are being controlled. In both these books, the main characters, Jonas and Tally, discover something that they have been missing out on their entire lives. This book also reminds me of Twilight by Stephenie Meyer. It reminds me of Twilght, but only in one way. The way the author combines romance, action, and suspense, so they blend together perfectly. The Giver, Twilight, and The Uglies are all great books.
A quote that really struck me in this book (and another reason why it reminds me of the Giver) was: 'Perhaps the logical conclusion for everyone looking the same, is everyone thinking the same.' This quote really shows how much the government controls the citizens of Uglyville and New Pretty Town. I think their reason for being so controlling over how the citizens think is so they can keep their 'perfect' utopia without anyone revolting against them. If people thought differently, expressed their opinions, and looked different, then their utopia would come crashing down. Another thing about this quote that was interesting was how they make people look similar to make them think the same, but they also use another method to make everyone think the same. Brain lesions. During the Operation, doctors change how uglies think by giving them lesions. In the Giver, the workers know what they are doing people, (e.g. Releasing) but in the Uglies, doctors don't even know they are giving their patients the lesions. This quote mainly shows how much their government wanted to be in control of everything and still keep it a secret.
The futuristic setting in this society makes this book a lot more interesting. Learning about the technology they have in Uglyville and New Pretty Town is sometimes hard to follow, but it's super cool! They have hover boards, bungee jackets, and even hover cars! While I was reading this book, I stopped several times just to think, "What if we had this technology?". Technology/ Sci-fi genres are some of my least favorite to read but i enjoyed this book a lot, so even if it's not your favorite type of book either, try it out!(:
Sincerely,
Caity Borne(:
Per. 4-5
Dear Friends,
I recently finished reading the book The Uglies, by Scott Westerfeld. I would rate this book a full ten out of ten. I loved this book because it was so easy to relate to Tally Youngblood, the main character, even though her world, and our world are so different. In Tally's world, everyone is 'Ugly' until age sixteen. At sixteen years-old, the Operation will take place. The Operation morphs your features, changing nearly every aspect of how you look. After the Operation, you become a 'Pretty', but only a few know what will really happen during the Operation...
This book reminds me so much of The Giver by Lois Lowry.The government controls so many things in your life, even the things they don't realize are being controlled. In both these books, the main characters, Jonas and Tally, discover something that they have been missing out on their entire lives. This book also reminds me of Twilight by Stephenie Meyer. It reminds me of Twilght, but only in one way. The way the author combines romance, action, and suspense, so they blend together perfectly. The Giver, Twilight, and The Uglies are all great books.
A quote that really struck me in this book (and another reason why it reminds me of the Giver) was: 'Perhaps the logical conclusion for everyone looking the same, is everyone thinking the same.' This quote really shows how much the government controls the citizens of Uglyville and New Pretty Town. I think their reason for being so controlling over how the citizens think is so they can keep their 'perfect' utopia without anyone revolting against them. If people thought differently, expressed their opinions, and looked different, then their utopia would come crashing down. Another thing about this quote that was interesting was how they make people look similar to make them think the same, but they also use another method to make everyone think the same. Brain lesions. During the Operation, doctors change how uglies think by giving them lesions. In the Giver, the workers know what they are doing people, (e.g. Releasing) but in the Uglies, doctors don't even know they are giving their patients the lesions. This quote mainly shows how much their government wanted to be in control of everything and still keep it a secret.
The futuristic setting in this society makes this book a lot more interesting. Learning about the technology they have in Uglyville and New Pretty Town is sometimes hard to follow, but it's super cool! They have hover boards, bungee jackets, and even hover cars! While I was reading this book, I stopped several times just to think, "What if we had this technology?". Technology/ Sci-fi genres are some of my least favorite to read but i enjoyed this book a lot, so even if it's not your favorite type of book either, try it out!(:
Sincerely,
Caity Borne(:
Stumptown Kid
April 26, 2010
Dear Ms. Monaco
I recently finished reading Stumptown Kid by Carol Gorman. I really liked this book and would rate it 10 out of 10. It was so good that I have read it twice.
Some connections I made to this book are the love and passion that Charlie has for baseball. I like baseball just as much as Charlie and play every chance I get, just like him. I also have a best friend that loves to play and we play baseball a lot together. I play for a team like Charlie’s too. We are pretty good and are coach teaches us a lot about the sport. I also had a friend that ruined some games that we played because he would make fun of people and wasn’t taking it serious, it made me really angry when he did it and we aren’t really friends anymore.
The main character in this story is Charlie Nebraska. The setting of this story is Holden, Iowa. Charlie wants to be a great baseball player someday and make his father proud, because his father died in the Korean War, and was a hero there. Charlie is best friends with Will draft during the summer and they both want to play baseball for The Wildcats, a very good team in their area. There is another character named Brad Lobo who makes fun of Charlie at tryouts and ruins his concentration, therefore Charlie did not make the team. Charlie’s best friend, Will does make the team. Charlie then meets Luther Peale after the tryouts and he gives Charlie some pointers on pitching. Luther and Charlie become best friends, and Will leaves Charlie for the Wildcats. Charlie’s mom’s boyfriend does not like Luther because he is prejudice towards African-Americans so Charlie hates him. Luther and Charlie do everything together, so Luther tells Charlie why he came up to Iowa, Luther said “That he came here to find work because he hit a white man in the head with a fastball while he was pitching for the Memphis Mockingbirds, a minor league baseball team, and killed him. So the batters brother, Ruckus Brody, tells Luther that he is going to kill him, so the sheriff tells Luther to leave town because it was good pitch and the batter was drunk so he decided to leave town and ended up in Iowa.” Later in the story Ruckus tries to kill Luther and he ends up in jail. While he’s in jail Charlie’s mom’s boyfriend bails Ruckus out and he tries to kill him again. Luther takes off towards the river and safely escapes, but Ruckus does not he ended up drowning in the river.
The genre of this book is fiction. This was a really good fiction read. I would recommend it to all readers who like sports fiction type books. I would recommend this book because of the suspense, action, and the lesson of the story.
I didn’t like how Carl Dueker ended the story. The ending was not a good cliff hanger and he didn’t even write an epilogue or sequel. The book ends with Luther going home to Tennessee and Charlie staying in Iowa. Carol Gorman should have written an epilogue or a sequel. Either one should have told about their lives after these incidents or if Charlie played high school baseball, college, or professional.
A passage from the book that I liked was at the end “He was quiet for a second. Then he said, I love you, son. I opened my mouth, but no words came out. So I pitched myself into him and held on for a real long time.”
I liked this passage because it shows how much Charlie and Luther loved and cared about each other. It shows that Luther had in a way replaced Charlie’s dad and filled that hole in his life. Also that Charlie really wanted Luther to become his dad and teach him about baseball and do those things that fathers and sons do with each other.
I really liked this book and it will be one of my all time favorites. Except I do think that I should read some books outside these types of genres. I have only read action and sports books. Actually, the only two science fiction books I have read were Hunger Games and The Giver was the first science fiction book I have read, and I really liked the Hunger Games but I thought The Giver was strange, and weird. So I think I will try some other books. I do like Carol Gorman as an author. I have read a lot of her books, and plan to read more of them.
Sincerely,
Michael J.
Dear Ms. Monaco
I recently finished reading Stumptown Kid by Carol Gorman. I really liked this book and would rate it 10 out of 10. It was so good that I have read it twice.
Some connections I made to this book are the love and passion that Charlie has for baseball. I like baseball just as much as Charlie and play every chance I get, just like him. I also have a best friend that loves to play and we play baseball a lot together. I play for a team like Charlie’s too. We are pretty good and are coach teaches us a lot about the sport. I also had a friend that ruined some games that we played because he would make fun of people and wasn’t taking it serious, it made me really angry when he did it and we aren’t really friends anymore.
The main character in this story is Charlie Nebraska. The setting of this story is Holden, Iowa. Charlie wants to be a great baseball player someday and make his father proud, because his father died in the Korean War, and was a hero there. Charlie is best friends with Will draft during the summer and they both want to play baseball for The Wildcats, a very good team in their area. There is another character named Brad Lobo who makes fun of Charlie at tryouts and ruins his concentration, therefore Charlie did not make the team. Charlie’s best friend, Will does make the team. Charlie then meets Luther Peale after the tryouts and he gives Charlie some pointers on pitching. Luther and Charlie become best friends, and Will leaves Charlie for the Wildcats. Charlie’s mom’s boyfriend does not like Luther because he is prejudice towards African-Americans so Charlie hates him. Luther and Charlie do everything together, so Luther tells Charlie why he came up to Iowa, Luther said “That he came here to find work because he hit a white man in the head with a fastball while he was pitching for the Memphis Mockingbirds, a minor league baseball team, and killed him. So the batters brother, Ruckus Brody, tells Luther that he is going to kill him, so the sheriff tells Luther to leave town because it was good pitch and the batter was drunk so he decided to leave town and ended up in Iowa.” Later in the story Ruckus tries to kill Luther and he ends up in jail. While he’s in jail Charlie’s mom’s boyfriend bails Ruckus out and he tries to kill him again. Luther takes off towards the river and safely escapes, but Ruckus does not he ended up drowning in the river.
The genre of this book is fiction. This was a really good fiction read. I would recommend it to all readers who like sports fiction type books. I would recommend this book because of the suspense, action, and the lesson of the story.
I didn’t like how Carl Dueker ended the story. The ending was not a good cliff hanger and he didn’t even write an epilogue or sequel. The book ends with Luther going home to Tennessee and Charlie staying in Iowa. Carol Gorman should have written an epilogue or a sequel. Either one should have told about their lives after these incidents or if Charlie played high school baseball, college, or professional.
A passage from the book that I liked was at the end “He was quiet for a second. Then he said, I love you, son. I opened my mouth, but no words came out. So I pitched myself into him and held on for a real long time.”
I liked this passage because it shows how much Charlie and Luther loved and cared about each other. It shows that Luther had in a way replaced Charlie’s dad and filled that hole in his life. Also that Charlie really wanted Luther to become his dad and teach him about baseball and do those things that fathers and sons do with each other.
I really liked this book and it will be one of my all time favorites. Except I do think that I should read some books outside these types of genres. I have only read action and sports books. Actually, the only two science fiction books I have read were Hunger Games and The Giver was the first science fiction book I have read, and I really liked the Hunger Games but I thought The Giver was strange, and weird. So I think I will try some other books. I do like Carol Gorman as an author. I have read a lot of her books, and plan to read more of them.
Sincerely,
Michael J.
The Stranger Next Door
Dear Ms. Monaco,
The book I recently read was The Stranger Next Door by Peg Kehret. The genre of this book is realistic fiction. I read this book because I was looking for a good book and many of my friends had read this story once before. I would rate this book nine out of ten. The reason that I didn’t give ten out of ten is because the story had a lot of loose ends.
The main character of this book is Alex Kendrill and Pete the Cat. Alex is a main character because he was the one who was in the entire story; he was also bullied by people at school. Alex also had a lot of character development throughout this book. Pete is a main character because it seems like he wrote this book from his point of view. Just like Alex, Pete was in present throughout the entire book. He also saved Alex’s life.
The genre of this book is realistic fiction. The reason is that anyone can be bullied at school and be threatened by bullies. Also, anyone could be in Alex and Rocky’s situation as they were new kids at school and were trying to make new friends. Alex and Rocky end up at the end of the story being very good friends.
I wonder why Mr. Woosley, a local builder, would set fires to houses that he built. It never said in the story why he did it, but I think the reason is either he was upset at how builders built the house or he was just mad at something that made him do this. I also wonder why Mr. Woosley would put Alex, all tied up, in the bathtub and then set fire to the house. I think that he did that because Alex saw him set a fire to a different house and Mr. Woosley didn’t want anybody knowing about it. If I was Mr. Woosley, I would have just paid Alex to not say anything.
Here is a passage from The Stranger Next Door: Alex took off home. He was halfway to the grove of trees when a gunshot sounded behind him. Alex hit the ground. He let go of Pete, who ran to the closest tree and climbed it. “Hold it right there”, the man called as he ran toward Alex. “Don’t say anything. Don’t yell for help. I missed you on purpose the first time, but I won’t miss again.” A chill prickled down Alex’s arms. He recognized that voice. Mr. Woosley, the man who had built all the houses in Valley View Estates, was the arsonist!
The reason that I chose this paragraph is that it shows who the arsonist of Valley View Estates was. Alex thought it was Duke and Henry, two of the people that had been bullying Alex and Rocky. Alex had never suspected that it was the home builder who was the arsonist. He had even seen the arsonist get in a car after setting a fire and had tried to read the license plate.
I liked the way the author wrote this book. On the front cover, it said the book was written by Peg Kehret and Pete the Cat. In the book, the story written by Peg Kehret is in normal letters while the parts of the story told by Pete were in italicized letters. It made it easy to know who was telling that particular part of the story. I thought that was a good idea for writing a story with two authors.
All in all, I would recommend this book to anyone looking for a good mystery story. I thought this was a good book maybe you would too.
Sincerely,
Travis parker
The book I recently read was The Stranger Next Door by Peg Kehret. The genre of this book is realistic fiction. I read this book because I was looking for a good book and many of my friends had read this story once before. I would rate this book nine out of ten. The reason that I didn’t give ten out of ten is because the story had a lot of loose ends.
The main character of this book is Alex Kendrill and Pete the Cat. Alex is a main character because he was the one who was in the entire story; he was also bullied by people at school. Alex also had a lot of character development throughout this book. Pete is a main character because it seems like he wrote this book from his point of view. Just like Alex, Pete was in present throughout the entire book. He also saved Alex’s life.
The genre of this book is realistic fiction. The reason is that anyone can be bullied at school and be threatened by bullies. Also, anyone could be in Alex and Rocky’s situation as they were new kids at school and were trying to make new friends. Alex and Rocky end up at the end of the story being very good friends.
I wonder why Mr. Woosley, a local builder, would set fires to houses that he built. It never said in the story why he did it, but I think the reason is either he was upset at how builders built the house or he was just mad at something that made him do this. I also wonder why Mr. Woosley would put Alex, all tied up, in the bathtub and then set fire to the house. I think that he did that because Alex saw him set a fire to a different house and Mr. Woosley didn’t want anybody knowing about it. If I was Mr. Woosley, I would have just paid Alex to not say anything.
Here is a passage from The Stranger Next Door: Alex took off home. He was halfway to the grove of trees when a gunshot sounded behind him. Alex hit the ground. He let go of Pete, who ran to the closest tree and climbed it. “Hold it right there”, the man called as he ran toward Alex. “Don’t say anything. Don’t yell for help. I missed you on purpose the first time, but I won’t miss again.” A chill prickled down Alex’s arms. He recognized that voice. Mr. Woosley, the man who had built all the houses in Valley View Estates, was the arsonist!
The reason that I chose this paragraph is that it shows who the arsonist of Valley View Estates was. Alex thought it was Duke and Henry, two of the people that had been bullying Alex and Rocky. Alex had never suspected that it was the home builder who was the arsonist. He had even seen the arsonist get in a car after setting a fire and had tried to read the license plate.
I liked the way the author wrote this book. On the front cover, it said the book was written by Peg Kehret and Pete the Cat. In the book, the story written by Peg Kehret is in normal letters while the parts of the story told by Pete were in italicized letters. It made it easy to know who was telling that particular part of the story. I thought that was a good idea for writing a story with two authors.
All in all, I would recommend this book to anyone looking for a good mystery story. I thought this was a good book maybe you would too.
Sincerely,
Travis parker
The Extraordinary Adventures of Alfred Kropp
4/24/10
Dear Ms. Monaco,
I recently read “The Extraordinary Adventures of Alfred Kropp” by Rick Yancey. I give this book 9 out of 10 for because I feel that it puts too much suspense on small things even though it is otherwise great overall.
The genre of this book is confusing because it borders on fantasy and realistic fiction. It is a completely real book in the real world with almost everything in the book possible. However it also has a magic sword that can heal any injury or kill any enemy. I would probably call this realistic fiction even though not everything is realistic.
This book reminded me of “The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian” because of the way the characters are made to be somewhat humorous. I like how the author did this because it makes the story a lot more interesting to read than if they are like a character rather than a person. This is a big part what makes both of these books entertaining, and a good overall read.
This book is about a large, clumsy, not-so-bright, and awkward boy named Alfred Kropp. He lives with his Uncle Farrell because he never knew his father and his mother died when he was 12. He isn’t in to sports as his uncle wants him to be, and he doesn’t have many hobbies or any friends at school. One day his uncle gets a call from a man offering $1,000,000 for Alfred’s uncle, as the security guard, to steal back a rare antique from Farrell’s boss. As it is an offer that can’t be refused he accepts the offer and drive to the office for work with Alfred to get the sword. The rest of the book is a must read filled with humor, adventure, and unexpected twists.
The main character of the story is not usually the typical kind of person you would expect. I think it was, however, a great idea on the author’s part as the story is infinitely more interesting. It makes you pause and think back every once in awhile to put together “What just happened?’’ After Alfred stumbles through another mess coming out somehow unscathed. If the main character was an average person who always knows exactly what is happening and how he can get out of it alive, then the story would just be another on one of the many shelves of the library.
"I never thought I would save the world or die saving it. I never believed in angels or miracles either, and I sure didn't think of myself as a hero. Nobody would have, including you, if you had known me before I took the world's most powerful weapon and let it fall into the hands of a lunatic. Maybe after you hear my story you won't think I'm much of a hero anyway since most my heroics resulted from my being a screwup." This quote starts the book and I also think it is important. Not only does this quote summarize the entire book, but it also manages to carry the same tone that I for some reason associate with rainy days and gray skies. Alfred always seems to be talking as if he was bruised and beaten. Saying he can't take anymore and he has lost even though he hasn't yet. I think this was an interesting approach by the author but I can't decide whether it has a positive or negative effect on the overall story.
I would say the theme of this book is things always make themselves right in the end and don’t give up hope. I say this because throughout the entire book Alfred just keeps taking blow after blow, emotionally and physically. He has to stay up night after night, he is chased across the country, he is nearly killed time after time but everything is eventually resolved. He couldn’t have ever gotten out alive without hope and his allies.
I can not wait to read the next two books in the trilogy titled "The Seal of Solomon" and "The Thirteenth Skull". I am hoping that these are just as entertaining as the first.
Your Student,
Justin Burt
Riding School Rivals
April 25, 2010
Dear Ms. Monaco,
Horseback riding is an immensely important part of my life. It takes courage, strength, practice, and love to achieve this sport. In the book Riding School Rivals by Susan Saunders that’s exactly what these students have to follow in order to stay on top of their game!
There are 3 main characters in the book Riding School Rivals. The first one is Cassie Sinclair who enjoys learning and helping her friends at Birchwood Stables to become better riders. Not only is she knowledgeable in riding horses she is very capable at jumping two-and-a-half-foot fences flawlessly!
The second main character is a stunning Lipizzaner named Majesty. Majesty is milky white, his legs powerful and short, and his body immense and powerful. But the big desirability is Majesty’s vast brown eyes that shine with intelligence.
The third main character is Hillary Craig who is a newcomer to Birchwood Stables. She is a proficient rider who has ridden horses for 3 years. She’s demanding and arrogant towards people and always has to get her own way even if she gets no for an answer.
I like how the author Susan Saunders added tension to the book. The problem in the book is the fights between Cassie and Hillary. Hillary wants a horse that can win her fist place in every competition they enter. She soon finds out about Majesty and how she could effortlessly earn first place with him. She demands to be able to ride him. The instructor Trisha Prescott thinks Cassie can accomplish more when riding Majesty. When Hillary discovers she is not allowed to ride the horse of her dreams it makes her decide to get revenge! Because of the tension Susan Saunders added, it made me stay on the tip of my toes.
Dear Ms. Monaco,
Horseback riding is an immensely important part of my life. It takes courage, strength, practice, and love to achieve this sport. In the book Riding School Rivals by Susan Saunders that’s exactly what these students have to follow in order to stay on top of their game!
There are 3 main characters in the book Riding School Rivals. The first one is Cassie Sinclair who enjoys learning and helping her friends at Birchwood Stables to become better riders. Not only is she knowledgeable in riding horses she is very capable at jumping two-and-a-half-foot fences flawlessly!
The second main character is a stunning Lipizzaner named Majesty. Majesty is milky white, his legs powerful and short, and his body immense and powerful. But the big desirability is Majesty’s vast brown eyes that shine with intelligence.
The third main character is Hillary Craig who is a newcomer to Birchwood Stables. She is a proficient rider who has ridden horses for 3 years. She’s demanding and arrogant towards people and always has to get her own way even if she gets no for an answer.
I like how the author Susan Saunders added tension to the book. The problem in the book is the fights between Cassie and Hillary. Hillary wants a horse that can win her fist place in every competition they enter. She soon finds out about Majesty and how she could effortlessly earn first place with him. She demands to be able to ride him. The instructor Trisha Prescott thinks Cassie can accomplish more when riding Majesty. When Hillary discovers she is not allowed to ride the horse of her dreams it makes her decide to get revenge! Because of the tension Susan Saunders added, it made me stay on the tip of my toes.
“We’ve leased him for you, Cassie,” her father added.
Cassie couldn’t take in what they were saying for a moment.
“You’ve leased…,” she began, and stopped.
“Majesty is all mine to ride?” she shrieked understanding at last.
“All yours, sweetie,” said her dad.
“I spoke to Trisha Prescott about it on the phone this morning and she’s preparing a contract for us to sign.”
-Page 55
When I read these quotes I vividly remembered the day my parents surprised me about leasing my favorite horse Casey. It has been one of the most extraordinary things that have ever happened to me.
The genre of this book is fiction because it is a made-up story but could happen in real-life to anybody. Most of this book I could relate to because a lot of the story plot has happened to me with friends, horses, and competitions!
I recommend this to anybody at any age level. It is a reasonably easy book to read so if you are the type of person who is constantly trying to test yourself with harder books this book is not for you. Although sometimes it is fun to read straightforward books!
Sincerely,
Cassie couldn’t take in what they were saying for a moment.
“You’ve leased…,” she began, and stopped.
“Majesty is all mine to ride?” she shrieked understanding at last.
“All yours, sweetie,” said her dad.
“I spoke to Trisha Prescott about it on the phone this morning and she’s preparing a contract for us to sign.”
-Page 55
When I read these quotes I vividly remembered the day my parents surprised me about leasing my favorite horse Casey. It has been one of the most extraordinary things that have ever happened to me.
The genre of this book is fiction because it is a made-up story but could happen in real-life to anybody. Most of this book I could relate to because a lot of the story plot has happened to me with friends, horses, and competitions!
I recommend this to anybody at any age level. It is a reasonably easy book to read so if you are the type of person who is constantly trying to test yourself with harder books this book is not for you. Although sometimes it is fun to read straightforward books!
Sincerely,
Kelsey S.
Zach's Lie
Dear students,
I recently read the book Zach's lie written by Roland smith. The book was very interesting and exciting. The book is the genre I enjoy to read. It is fast exciting and has a good story. I did not care for the romance in the story though. There wasn't a lot of romance in the story so I cannot complain a lot. If you are looking for new books that are good and you have not read it I would recommend it.
I rated this one a nine and a half out of ten. I rated it a nine and a half out of ten because it was exciting had a great story and had a little bit of action. I would have rated it a ten but there was a tad of romance in the book which I think in this type of book should just be left out entirely. I liked it so much because I have never read anything that has to do with the witness protection program before. I have seen a couple of movies but no books. If you are not into action and suspense I would not read this book. It does not have a lot of suspense but it has enough to be considered suspenseful.
The main character of the book is named Jack. When they get relocated with the witness protection program he has to change his name to Zack. When he was younger he broke both his legs so he is not in amazing shape so he is bad in P.E. At first in his new school he makes no friends but when he punches one of the school bullies and gives him a black eye he starts to make a few friends. Jack is a great character because he is brave in situations where if he isn't brave he will die. He also is quick thinking when the time calls for it.
I was struck by this passage "We are heading to Elko." I was struck by this passage because it is when the drug dealers find out where the witness protection program has taken them. This was the part in the book where it really started to get interesting. If you read this book I guarantee you will enjoy this passage because it is suspenseful. This passage really got me starting to turn pages because I was anxiously waiting for the part where Alonzo and his gang catch them and see how Jack and his family escape from them.
I liked how the author really kept you turning pages. The author kept me turning pages because I liked and connected to the character which I think it is a great way to really connect with your readers and get them to buy the sequel to this book which is called Jack's run. In some parts it was suspenseful but that is not what kept me turning pages. Being able to connect to the character is really what made me wanting to continue to read it. Also I really liked the story. Jack's dad got caught up with a drug organization and got arrested and the drug dealers broke into their house looking for a diary that the dad had written. They told his family if they said a word about them being there they would kill them. They told and were moved by the witness security program and eventually got found by Alonzo and his gang. They now needed help by the people they met in their new life to save them. That is why this book kept me on the edge of my seat and turning pages.
I wish that the book was made a little longer. It would have been a little better if there was more detail in the book I went two or three chapters without knowing what was happening because they did not explain it well enough. I also would have liked a little more action in the story because in the middle of the book I was getting a little bored of this book because it was slow at some parts. Of they made it more action packed and more detailed then the book would be longer and also a little bit better. Not that much better because it is good enough that there isn't much room for improvement.
I was surprised when Sam the custodian sets a trap and catches Alonzo. I was surprised because you do not see many janitors catching drug dealers. There are some clues in the story that say Sam is not just an ordinary custodian and that his line of work before being a custodian is in the intelligence field of work. I thought the part where he catches Alonzo was the best part to the book because it was suspenseful, because you didn't know what his trap was or if ti would work all you knew is that he had something planned.
I would definitely read this book because it is a good all around book. after you read this you should read Jack's run which is even better than this book because it has more action and suspense and it has to do with them getting kidnapped.
From,
Mac D.
I recently read the book Zach's lie written by Roland smith. The book was very interesting and exciting. The book is the genre I enjoy to read. It is fast exciting and has a good story. I did not care for the romance in the story though. There wasn't a lot of romance in the story so I cannot complain a lot. If you are looking for new books that are good and you have not read it I would recommend it.
I rated this one a nine and a half out of ten. I rated it a nine and a half out of ten because it was exciting had a great story and had a little bit of action. I would have rated it a ten but there was a tad of romance in the book which I think in this type of book should just be left out entirely. I liked it so much because I have never read anything that has to do with the witness protection program before. I have seen a couple of movies but no books. If you are not into action and suspense I would not read this book. It does not have a lot of suspense but it has enough to be considered suspenseful.
The main character of the book is named Jack. When they get relocated with the witness protection program he has to change his name to Zack. When he was younger he broke both his legs so he is not in amazing shape so he is bad in P.E. At first in his new school he makes no friends but when he punches one of the school bullies and gives him a black eye he starts to make a few friends. Jack is a great character because he is brave in situations where if he isn't brave he will die. He also is quick thinking when the time calls for it.
I was struck by this passage "We are heading to Elko." I was struck by this passage because it is when the drug dealers find out where the witness protection program has taken them. This was the part in the book where it really started to get interesting. If you read this book I guarantee you will enjoy this passage because it is suspenseful. This passage really got me starting to turn pages because I was anxiously waiting for the part where Alonzo and his gang catch them and see how Jack and his family escape from them.
I liked how the author really kept you turning pages. The author kept me turning pages because I liked and connected to the character which I think it is a great way to really connect with your readers and get them to buy the sequel to this book which is called Jack's run. In some parts it was suspenseful but that is not what kept me turning pages. Being able to connect to the character is really what made me wanting to continue to read it. Also I really liked the story. Jack's dad got caught up with a drug organization and got arrested and the drug dealers broke into their house looking for a diary that the dad had written. They told his family if they said a word about them being there they would kill them. They told and were moved by the witness security program and eventually got found by Alonzo and his gang. They now needed help by the people they met in their new life to save them. That is why this book kept me on the edge of my seat and turning pages.
I wish that the book was made a little longer. It would have been a little better if there was more detail in the book I went two or three chapters without knowing what was happening because they did not explain it well enough. I also would have liked a little more action in the story because in the middle of the book I was getting a little bored of this book because it was slow at some parts. Of they made it more action packed and more detailed then the book would be longer and also a little bit better. Not that much better because it is good enough that there isn't much room for improvement.
I was surprised when Sam the custodian sets a trap and catches Alonzo. I was surprised because you do not see many janitors catching drug dealers. There are some clues in the story that say Sam is not just an ordinary custodian and that his line of work before being a custodian is in the intelligence field of work. I thought the part where he catches Alonzo was the best part to the book because it was suspenseful, because you didn't know what his trap was or if ti would work all you knew is that he had something planned.
I would definitely read this book because it is a good all around book. after you read this you should read Jack's run which is even better than this book because it has more action and suspense and it has to do with them getting kidnapped.
From,
Mac D.
The Last Song
Sunday, April 25, 2010
Dear Ms. Monaco,
I recently read the book The Last Song by Nicholas Sparks. This is the third book of his that I have read (The Notebook and A Walk to Remember). On a scale of one to ten, I would give this book ten. Nicholas Sparks is my favorite author and he’s excellent at manipulating readers’ emotions. I would classify this book in the realistic fiction genre.
The Last Song was very unique in the way it was told. The story was written from third person limited perspective. The catch is that with each chapter, Sparks switches the character whose thoughts the narrator tells us about. The chapter names are the number followed by the name of the person whose thoughts you are told. There are four characters whose thoughts you can
“see”. These are Ronnie, Will, Steve, and Marcus. Sparks made an interesting choice when he chose to tell some of the story from Marcus’s perspective (well, third-person-limited-Marcus-Narrator-perspective). Marcus was definitely the antagonist throughout the book. He is a creepy, controlling, abusive, sick arsonist. I truly think he deserves to be locked up for fifty years. His perspective showed the main story, with a little bit of subplot that has to do with him. The author retold a lot of stuff that the reader has already found out, but from a unique, twisted perspective. Although I really hate that guy, I think Spark’s decision really enhanced the story as a whole.
One of the subtle things Sparks did throughout the story was really make small, slow changes in Ronnie’s personality. It was one of those things that you didn’t really notice until you look back on the book as a whole. *must throw in the wisdom of my favorite quote* “Day by day, nothing seems to change. But pretty soon everything’s different.” I actually read this on Facebook the other day (thanks Erma!) and it really made me think of Ronnie. In the beginning of the book, she was the stereotypical rebellious teen who wants nothing to do with her parents, but at the same time the author included many small, good-hearted things Ronnie did so it wouldn’t make Ronnie’s change seem so out of no where. You could look back later and say, “I so saw that coming.” By the end of the story, Ronnie had been forced to rethink priorities, and she became a totally different person.
There were many beautiful moments in The Last Song, but I chose this one to lift from the book.
"Sometimes you have to be apart from the people you love, but that doesn't make you love them any less. Sometimes it makes you love them more. "
Ronnie’s Dad said this to her. I thought this was a very important moment, because their relationship had a rough start. There is a lot of truth to that statement, and it’s something we all experience as a part of growing up.
Will and Ronnie’s relationship was awesome! They were not each other’s type at all, but they had so much chemistry that it conquered stereotypes. I don’t know if I’ve ever said this, but I want to be a romance novelist when I grow up (for teens, of course), and this relationship is exactly what I would try to create. It was very different from your average summer fling. Although I think it is rare, I believe that this type of relationship does exist for some people. I think that is the real appeal of Nicholas Sparks’ books, is that everyone secretly dreams of that for themselves.
Before I read this book, I also saw the movie at the theatre. Sparks actually wrote the movie before the book. He didn’t make many changes, except for some of the characters in the book were less developed in the movie. I definitely liked the book better, I felt like it was more emotionally gripping. However, I really enjoyed the movie, and I thought Miley Cyrus did an
excellent job portraying Ronnie.
One character that didn’t have a very big role in the movie but was an important part of the book was the priest. He was Steve’s best friend. I liked him because he broke the stereotype of a priest. Priests often seem to be the closest to perfect that people can get, but the priest in this book understands that is not always true. He makes mistakes, he messes around and jokes with people, he sometimes struggles with issues of faith, and he doesn’t act like he knows all the answers—all things that we associate with priests.
This book was incredible and I would highly recommend it as a summer read! It is a bit lengthy (400 pages), but is well worth it. The movie is amazing too, but I would recommend reading the book first. I should warn that this book is not happy-go-lucky all the way through, but it’s not completely tragic. In the grand tradition of Nicholas Sparks, this book is bittersweet and I would suggest it to only those that can handle it.
Sincerely,
Ayla G.
Dear Ms. Monaco,
I recently read the book The Last Song by Nicholas Sparks. This is the third book of his that I have read (The Notebook and A Walk to Remember). On a scale of one to ten, I would give this book ten. Nicholas Sparks is my favorite author and he’s excellent at manipulating readers’ emotions. I would classify this book in the realistic fiction genre.
The Last Song was very unique in the way it was told. The story was written from third person limited perspective. The catch is that with each chapter, Sparks switches the character whose thoughts the narrator tells us about. The chapter names are the number followed by the name of the person whose thoughts you are told. There are four characters whose thoughts you can
“see”. These are Ronnie, Will, Steve, and Marcus. Sparks made an interesting choice when he chose to tell some of the story from Marcus’s perspective (well, third-person-limited-Marcus-Narrator-perspective). Marcus was definitely the antagonist throughout the book. He is a creepy, controlling, abusive, sick arsonist. I truly think he deserves to be locked up for fifty years. His perspective showed the main story, with a little bit of subplot that has to do with him. The author retold a lot of stuff that the reader has already found out, but from a unique, twisted perspective. Although I really hate that guy, I think Spark’s decision really enhanced the story as a whole.
One of the subtle things Sparks did throughout the story was really make small, slow changes in Ronnie’s personality. It was one of those things that you didn’t really notice until you look back on the book as a whole. *must throw in the wisdom of my favorite quote* “Day by day, nothing seems to change. But pretty soon everything’s different.” I actually read this on Facebook the other day (thanks Erma!) and it really made me think of Ronnie. In the beginning of the book, she was the stereotypical rebellious teen who wants nothing to do with her parents, but at the same time the author included many small, good-hearted things Ronnie did so it wouldn’t make Ronnie’s change seem so out of no where. You could look back later and say, “I so saw that coming.” By the end of the story, Ronnie had been forced to rethink priorities, and she became a totally different person.
There were many beautiful moments in The Last Song, but I chose this one to lift from the book.
"Sometimes you have to be apart from the people you love, but that doesn't make you love them any less. Sometimes it makes you love them more. "
Ronnie’s Dad said this to her. I thought this was a very important moment, because their relationship had a rough start. There is a lot of truth to that statement, and it’s something we all experience as a part of growing up.
Will and Ronnie’s relationship was awesome! They were not each other’s type at all, but they had so much chemistry that it conquered stereotypes. I don’t know if I’ve ever said this, but I want to be a romance novelist when I grow up (for teens, of course), and this relationship is exactly what I would try to create. It was very different from your average summer fling. Although I think it is rare, I believe that this type of relationship does exist for some people. I think that is the real appeal of Nicholas Sparks’ books, is that everyone secretly dreams of that for themselves.
Before I read this book, I also saw the movie at the theatre. Sparks actually wrote the movie before the book. He didn’t make many changes, except for some of the characters in the book were less developed in the movie. I definitely liked the book better, I felt like it was more emotionally gripping. However, I really enjoyed the movie, and I thought Miley Cyrus did an
excellent job portraying Ronnie.
One character that didn’t have a very big role in the movie but was an important part of the book was the priest. He was Steve’s best friend. I liked him because he broke the stereotype of a priest. Priests often seem to be the closest to perfect that people can get, but the priest in this book understands that is not always true. He makes mistakes, he messes around and jokes with people, he sometimes struggles with issues of faith, and he doesn’t act like he knows all the answers—all things that we associate with priests.
This book was incredible and I would highly recommend it as a summer read! It is a bit lengthy (400 pages), but is well worth it. The movie is amazing too, but I would recommend reading the book first. I should warn that this book is not happy-go-lucky all the way through, but it’s not completely tragic. In the grand tradition of Nicholas Sparks, this book is bittersweet and I would suggest it to only those that can handle it.
Sincerely,
Ayla G.
Things Hoped For
Dear Students,
I have recently read the amazing book Things hoped for, written by Andrew Clements. If I had to rate this book, I would rate it 9.5 out of 10. I wouldn’t give it a 10 because it had a few parts where the author could have simplified conversations. Even though some parts could have been condenced, it was still an enjoyable book with many unpredictable things happening to Gwen, the main character.
I liked the way the author made each chapter heading reveal what would happen in the upcoming section of the book. It started to make me pay attention to the chapter headings so I could look out for something relevant in the chapter. He also made many unpredictable events happen at times you never would have guessed! For example, when Robert went to get steaks from downstairs, he ended up finding Gwen’s missing Grandpa in the freezer! Many events like this made me want to keep reading on!
The character development of Gwen in this story really changed. In the beginning, Gwen thought that her life story only involved her and her music with only distractions from her story. Every once in a while, after every event, her opinion of it would slightly change. For example, after she found her Grandpa, she knew her story was swallowed whole and not very much of it left was about her musical career. The time Gwen’s opinion changed the most was after many of the events took place, toward the end of the book. She knows that it will never be ONLY her in her life story, but she still wanted it to be. In this particuliar part in the book, she realizes why she wants her life story to be as plain and simple as a musician-
“It’s because I’ve been imagining that it’s going to be easy. It’s because I think I’ll be able to lose myself in great sweeps of harmony, and the all-knowing, infallible conductor will always lead the way. And me? I imagine myself gliding seamlessly from one movement to the next, with hardly a rustle as I turn the pages of the score. Because I want things to work out the way they do when Bach is in charge. Or Paganini. Or Jane Austen. Or even Yeats. Because I’m desperate for a nice,tidy ending, maybe with a pleasant rhyme or two, or that wonderful last burst of a symphonic harmony that makes me want to shout yes! But it’s not happening that way.”
This part was by far the most important in the whole book. It was the section that showed how much Gwen has learned in her life altering experience! She is finally explaining to herself that, although she does love her music, it is not an alternative world where problems don’t pop up and life is always smooth. Gwen is so desperate for a nice, tidy ending because she is such a perfectionist. All her life she was a perfectionist, always needing everything to be neat and perfect. This is another one of the ways this whole era of events in this story changed her.
I understood why Gwen’s grandpa, Lawrence, put himself in the freezer. During the book, when Gwen’s family was reading Grandpa’s letters to the police, they said he died of natural causes. The police said they found him there with an air tank inside the freezer with him and duct tape on the latch. He could have gotten out of there if he wanted too and he had enough air, so I was pondering why he decided to go into the freezer to die. While waiting at her audition, when Gwen opened her letter, Grandpa had given her his dogtags from the army. On the back it had the bible verse John 15:13 carved into it, “Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends.” I finally concluded that he died in the freezer so he could possibly hide from Gwen long enough for her to be able to get her auditions for college done without his burden.
The main character really got better perspectives of her Uncle Hank throughout the story. Her opinion of Uncle Hank first started out as him being bitter, cranky, and heartless to his own brother. He would yell and scream because his Lawrence wouldn’t sell the house. But that perspecive changed as Hank finally found out he was dead. Uncle Hank was welling up in tears mourning for his brother. Gwen knew she had only seen him from one point of view, and never knew he was so emotional. There was another time when Gwen knew her perspective of her Uncle had changed, it was after going out to dinner when he appologized. His appoligizing was something Gwen never would have seen her Uncle do if Lawrence hadn’t died. He was a puppy dog deep down but she just couldn’t see from the surface.
Overall, this book was quite a twister. It started out from barely having much going on to being chocked full of so many events! I loved how this book played out, but I couldn’t really tell the theme of this book. I wish some of the events were more suspenseful, it would have made this book even better! Andrew Clements did a fantastic job and kept pulling me toward the end, eager to know what will happen next!
Yours Truly,
Missy
Period 6-7
I have recently read the amazing book Things hoped for, written by Andrew Clements. If I had to rate this book, I would rate it 9.5 out of 10. I wouldn’t give it a 10 because it had a few parts where the author could have simplified conversations. Even though some parts could have been condenced, it was still an enjoyable book with many unpredictable things happening to Gwen, the main character.
I liked the way the author made each chapter heading reveal what would happen in the upcoming section of the book. It started to make me pay attention to the chapter headings so I could look out for something relevant in the chapter. He also made many unpredictable events happen at times you never would have guessed! For example, when Robert went to get steaks from downstairs, he ended up finding Gwen’s missing Grandpa in the freezer! Many events like this made me want to keep reading on!
The character development of Gwen in this story really changed. In the beginning, Gwen thought that her life story only involved her and her music with only distractions from her story. Every once in a while, after every event, her opinion of it would slightly change. For example, after she found her Grandpa, she knew her story was swallowed whole and not very much of it left was about her musical career. The time Gwen’s opinion changed the most was after many of the events took place, toward the end of the book. She knows that it will never be ONLY her in her life story, but she still wanted it to be. In this particuliar part in the book, she realizes why she wants her life story to be as plain and simple as a musician-
“It’s because I’ve been imagining that it’s going to be easy. It’s because I think I’ll be able to lose myself in great sweeps of harmony, and the all-knowing, infallible conductor will always lead the way. And me? I imagine myself gliding seamlessly from one movement to the next, with hardly a rustle as I turn the pages of the score. Because I want things to work out the way they do when Bach is in charge. Or Paganini. Or Jane Austen. Or even Yeats. Because I’m desperate for a nice,tidy ending, maybe with a pleasant rhyme or two, or that wonderful last burst of a symphonic harmony that makes me want to shout yes! But it’s not happening that way.”
This part was by far the most important in the whole book. It was the section that showed how much Gwen has learned in her life altering experience! She is finally explaining to herself that, although she does love her music, it is not an alternative world where problems don’t pop up and life is always smooth. Gwen is so desperate for a nice, tidy ending because she is such a perfectionist. All her life she was a perfectionist, always needing everything to be neat and perfect. This is another one of the ways this whole era of events in this story changed her.
I understood why Gwen’s grandpa, Lawrence, put himself in the freezer. During the book, when Gwen’s family was reading Grandpa’s letters to the police, they said he died of natural causes. The police said they found him there with an air tank inside the freezer with him and duct tape on the latch. He could have gotten out of there if he wanted too and he had enough air, so I was pondering why he decided to go into the freezer to die. While waiting at her audition, when Gwen opened her letter, Grandpa had given her his dogtags from the army. On the back it had the bible verse John 15:13 carved into it, “Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends.” I finally concluded that he died in the freezer so he could possibly hide from Gwen long enough for her to be able to get her auditions for college done without his burden.
The main character really got better perspectives of her Uncle Hank throughout the story. Her opinion of Uncle Hank first started out as him being bitter, cranky, and heartless to his own brother. He would yell and scream because his Lawrence wouldn’t sell the house. But that perspecive changed as Hank finally found out he was dead. Uncle Hank was welling up in tears mourning for his brother. Gwen knew she had only seen him from one point of view, and never knew he was so emotional. There was another time when Gwen knew her perspective of her Uncle had changed, it was after going out to dinner when he appologized. His appoligizing was something Gwen never would have seen her Uncle do if Lawrence hadn’t died. He was a puppy dog deep down but she just couldn’t see from the surface.
Overall, this book was quite a twister. It started out from barely having much going on to being chocked full of so many events! I loved how this book played out, but I couldn’t really tell the theme of this book. I wish some of the events were more suspenseful, it would have made this book even better! Andrew Clements did a fantastic job and kept pulling me toward the end, eager to know what will happen next!
Yours Truly,
Missy
Period 6-7
Mutinty on the Bounty by Zac Dietrich
Dear readers,
For my sixth letter essay I reread the book Mutiny on the Bounty. This book is by Charles Nordhoff and James Norman Hall. The book was first written nineteen thirty-two. Although this book was a reread I discovered many new events to add to the meaningfulness of the plot and it also has been about a year and a half since I first read this book.
The first thing I liked about this book was the setting. The setting of this book was in the golden age of sailing when many famous navigators were finding new lands. The reason I like this setting so much is that I have a good amount of background knowledge of how to sail boats and how they are built. Also I find the topic of navigation along with adventuring to undiscovered islands, or for that matter any undiscovered place a very interesting topic. Those are most of the reasons why the setting of this book appealed to me.
The second thing that I liked in this book was the word choice. This is one of the main reasons why this book was a slightly harder read than a lot of other books. Also this book was first written in nineteen thirty-two that was a time when a lot of people had much larger vocabularies than this time period does. Some examples of this language is malicious which means awful or bad natured and lethargy which means laziness or disregard. Mutiny on the Bounty increased my vocabulary quite a lot. In conclusion the word choice of this book definitely added to the challenge of reading this book and made it much more interesting the second time i read it.
The third thing I liked about this book was how the authors described the setting so well it almost felt like you were there. For instance when the main character first steps into his temporary island home he says “the house was a fine one-sixty feet long by twenty wide, with a lofty, newly thatched roof, and, instead of gables, semicircular extensions at each end. Such houses were built only for chiefs.”. That quote and many others like it really helped me to get a mental picture of where the story was set at and added a lot to the events that were taking place during it.
One of the things I thought was interesting about Mutiny on the Bounty was the ending of the story where Roger Byam (the main character) returns to the island paradise if Tahiti after being gone for over five years to find the island almost completely deserted and war torn. I thought this was a very interesting turn of events because usually stories end happily not sad and abrupt. I think the author did this to show what the European colonization of the world really did to the inhabitants of all the far away islands.
I think the morale of this story it that even when something is great or your life is perfect there will always be a price to pay for it or that there is always another side to a great deal. The main example of this is how at first when Roger Byam sails to Tahiti and its neighboring islands life is perfect he can do whatever he wants to and its always warm and sunny. But when the Bounty has to sail back to England there is a mutiny and he sails right back to Tahiti spending the next two years in paradise. But then he is caught as a prisoner he is then acquitted of his crimes and returns to the island paradise of Tahiti to find it war torn and ravaged by diseases. Now usually for the morale to be true there is usually the hard part before the good happens like having to go to college for eight years to become a doctor or working at a job for a very long time so you can get a raise or important position. This could work in the other manner if for instance you buy something online and it ends up being a piece of crap. Those are some of my reasons why I think the morale of the story Mutiny on the Bounty is that there is always another side to a great deal.
Rereading this book proved to be much harder but much more worthwhile considering I now have a larger vocabulary than before reading this book. I would recommend this book to anyone who loves a hard but meaningful read.
Sincerely,
Zac Dietrich
For my sixth letter essay I reread the book Mutiny on the Bounty. This book is by Charles Nordhoff and James Norman Hall. The book was first written nineteen thirty-two. Although this book was a reread I discovered many new events to add to the meaningfulness of the plot and it also has been about a year and a half since I first read this book.
The first thing I liked about this book was the setting. The setting of this book was in the golden age of sailing when many famous navigators were finding new lands. The reason I like this setting so much is that I have a good amount of background knowledge of how to sail boats and how they are built. Also I find the topic of navigation along with adventuring to undiscovered islands, or for that matter any undiscovered place a very interesting topic. Those are most of the reasons why the setting of this book appealed to me.
The second thing that I liked in this book was the word choice. This is one of the main reasons why this book was a slightly harder read than a lot of other books. Also this book was first written in nineteen thirty-two that was a time when a lot of people had much larger vocabularies than this time period does. Some examples of this language is malicious which means awful or bad natured and lethargy which means laziness or disregard. Mutiny on the Bounty increased my vocabulary quite a lot. In conclusion the word choice of this book definitely added to the challenge of reading this book and made it much more interesting the second time i read it.
The third thing I liked about this book was how the authors described the setting so well it almost felt like you were there. For instance when the main character first steps into his temporary island home he says “the house was a fine one-sixty feet long by twenty wide, with a lofty, newly thatched roof, and, instead of gables, semicircular extensions at each end. Such houses were built only for chiefs.”. That quote and many others like it really helped me to get a mental picture of where the story was set at and added a lot to the events that were taking place during it.
One of the things I thought was interesting about Mutiny on the Bounty was the ending of the story where Roger Byam (the main character) returns to the island paradise if Tahiti after being gone for over five years to find the island almost completely deserted and war torn. I thought this was a very interesting turn of events because usually stories end happily not sad and abrupt. I think the author did this to show what the European colonization of the world really did to the inhabitants of all the far away islands.
I think the morale of this story it that even when something is great or your life is perfect there will always be a price to pay for it or that there is always another side to a great deal. The main example of this is how at first when Roger Byam sails to Tahiti and its neighboring islands life is perfect he can do whatever he wants to and its always warm and sunny. But when the Bounty has to sail back to England there is a mutiny and he sails right back to Tahiti spending the next two years in paradise. But then he is caught as a prisoner he is then acquitted of his crimes and returns to the island paradise of Tahiti to find it war torn and ravaged by diseases. Now usually for the morale to be true there is usually the hard part before the good happens like having to go to college for eight years to become a doctor or working at a job for a very long time so you can get a raise or important position. This could work in the other manner if for instance you buy something online and it ends up being a piece of crap. Those are some of my reasons why I think the morale of the story Mutiny on the Bounty is that there is always another side to a great deal.
Rereading this book proved to be much harder but much more worthwhile considering I now have a larger vocabulary than before reading this book. I would recommend this book to anyone who loves a hard but meaningful read.
Sincerely,
Zac Dietrich
Dreamland
April 25, 2010
Dear Ms. Monaco,
I recently read a book called Dreamland by Sarah Dessen. Dessen is one of my favorite authors, and continues to write page-turning novels. This particular book was a realistic fiction book based on domestic violence. It happens in the present day and really hits home on some of the very real events in a young teen’s life.
The theme of Dreamland is definitely relationships. It focuses on the relationship between Caitlin and Rogerson and Caitlin and Cass. It also talks about Caitlin’s relationship between other important people in her life such as her mom, her friend Rina, her dad, and her family friend Boo. As these relationships change and develop, Caitlin’s personality does as well. The quote I picked ties in Caitlin’s view of many of these relationships and how they have changed her.
“I stood in front of my mirror and turned slowly, watching the skirt twirl up and fall around my knees. I wanted to be a girl who could wear a dress like this. Instead, the girl in the mirror looked back at me, and I hardly recognized her. She was just some strange girl who’d tumbled off a pyramid, falling into a dream, and now waited, in a beautiful dress, like some princess in a forgotten fairytale, for someone to come and save her.”
I chose this quote because it shows how different Caitlin’s viewpoint on life is now that her sister and boyfriend are gone. The key points in the plot are in this, as well.
Caitlin’s relationship with her sister was very strong. They always knew what each other were thinking and how they would react to certain things. But Caitlin always kept one thing hidden from her sister; her constant reminder of how perfect Cass was. Cass had the life Caitlin had always dreamed of; good grades, popular friends, and athletic ability beyond compare. Caitlin was tired of being in the shadow of her sister. Then the morning of Caitlin’s birthday, Cass disappeared. The only note left behind said that Cass had left with her boyfriend Adam and just needed some time away. Of course, Cass’s parents were extremely surprised and worried by this news. Suddenly Caitlin’s special day, her one day to be praised more than Cass had come, only to be ruined again by something more important.
Because of this, Caitlin thought she needed to fill the gap of Cass for her mom. She got involved in cheerleading, which made her mom very happy and gave her something to focus in on besides Cass. The relationship between Caitlin and her mom is like a typical teen relationship. There is enough trust to send Caitlin on a date or something like that, but still not hand-in-hand. Because of this, Caitlin tries to get away from all the stress at home by hanging out with the new guy she met; Rogerson. Rogerson slowly helps Caitlin feel better about her life and gives her someone to lean on and trust, until he lashes out one day and slaps her.
I thought this was a great thing to put in the book because a lot of teens these days can relate to domestic violence. It also shows the reader that not everything, even in a book, has the ending you want it to have. Things will never turn out perfect, so you just have to go with your instinct and try to make the outcome as good as it can get. In Caitlin’s case, Rogerson took that away from her. She was so afraid to let go of him that she started to lose her best friend Rina, along with all the things that had gotten her where she was.
I thought the author had a good layout of the book for the reader. Sarah Dessen did not put chapter titles, but put little sections. The first section was called Cass, and mainly focused on the family’s transition after Cass disappeared. The next section was called Rogerson, and obviously talked about Caitlin and Rogerson’s influence on her. This took up most of the book until the climax hit. Then the next and last section was called “me”, referring to Caitlin. I do not want to give too much away, but this part is pretty much just explaining Caitlin’s transition yet again from something that happens in the climax. I thought this layout fit the book well because chapter titles would have ruined the effect and given too much away.
Overall, I would definitely rate this book on the high end of the scale. Somewhere around an 8.5 to 9 would suit it well. I am rating it this because I believe, as I have said before, that it relates to a lot of problems teens our age or older are running into. It also has the style of writing I like, which is the kind that lets you figure certain things out if you look close enough, but never gives anything important away too early. I would recommend this book to girls more than boys, but saying that, I think it would suit any girls’ taste in genre.
Sincerely,
Brianna Young
Dear Ms. Monaco,
I recently read a book called Dreamland by Sarah Dessen. Dessen is one of my favorite authors, and continues to write page-turning novels. This particular book was a realistic fiction book based on domestic violence. It happens in the present day and really hits home on some of the very real events in a young teen’s life.
The theme of Dreamland is definitely relationships. It focuses on the relationship between Caitlin and Rogerson and Caitlin and Cass. It also talks about Caitlin’s relationship between other important people in her life such as her mom, her friend Rina, her dad, and her family friend Boo. As these relationships change and develop, Caitlin’s personality does as well. The quote I picked ties in Caitlin’s view of many of these relationships and how they have changed her.
“I stood in front of my mirror and turned slowly, watching the skirt twirl up and fall around my knees. I wanted to be a girl who could wear a dress like this. Instead, the girl in the mirror looked back at me, and I hardly recognized her. She was just some strange girl who’d tumbled off a pyramid, falling into a dream, and now waited, in a beautiful dress, like some princess in a forgotten fairytale, for someone to come and save her.”
I chose this quote because it shows how different Caitlin’s viewpoint on life is now that her sister and boyfriend are gone. The key points in the plot are in this, as well.
Caitlin’s relationship with her sister was very strong. They always knew what each other were thinking and how they would react to certain things. But Caitlin always kept one thing hidden from her sister; her constant reminder of how perfect Cass was. Cass had the life Caitlin had always dreamed of; good grades, popular friends, and athletic ability beyond compare. Caitlin was tired of being in the shadow of her sister. Then the morning of Caitlin’s birthday, Cass disappeared. The only note left behind said that Cass had left with her boyfriend Adam and just needed some time away. Of course, Cass’s parents were extremely surprised and worried by this news. Suddenly Caitlin’s special day, her one day to be praised more than Cass had come, only to be ruined again by something more important.
Because of this, Caitlin thought she needed to fill the gap of Cass for her mom. She got involved in cheerleading, which made her mom very happy and gave her something to focus in on besides Cass. The relationship between Caitlin and her mom is like a typical teen relationship. There is enough trust to send Caitlin on a date or something like that, but still not hand-in-hand. Because of this, Caitlin tries to get away from all the stress at home by hanging out with the new guy she met; Rogerson. Rogerson slowly helps Caitlin feel better about her life and gives her someone to lean on and trust, until he lashes out one day and slaps her.
I thought this was a great thing to put in the book because a lot of teens these days can relate to domestic violence. It also shows the reader that not everything, even in a book, has the ending you want it to have. Things will never turn out perfect, so you just have to go with your instinct and try to make the outcome as good as it can get. In Caitlin’s case, Rogerson took that away from her. She was so afraid to let go of him that she started to lose her best friend Rina, along with all the things that had gotten her where she was.
I thought the author had a good layout of the book for the reader. Sarah Dessen did not put chapter titles, but put little sections. The first section was called Cass, and mainly focused on the family’s transition after Cass disappeared. The next section was called Rogerson, and obviously talked about Caitlin and Rogerson’s influence on her. This took up most of the book until the climax hit. Then the next and last section was called “me”, referring to Caitlin. I do not want to give too much away, but this part is pretty much just explaining Caitlin’s transition yet again from something that happens in the climax. I thought this layout fit the book well because chapter titles would have ruined the effect and given too much away.
Overall, I would definitely rate this book on the high end of the scale. Somewhere around an 8.5 to 9 would suit it well. I am rating it this because I believe, as I have said before, that it relates to a lot of problems teens our age or older are running into. It also has the style of writing I like, which is the kind that lets you figure certain things out if you look close enough, but never gives anything important away too early. I would recommend this book to girls more than boys, but saying that, I think it would suit any girls’ taste in genre.
Sincerely,
Brianna Young
4-25-10
Dear Everyone,
I recently read the book Hatchet by Gary Paulsen. I rated Hatchet a 9.5 out of 10 stars. I gave it a 9.5 because I like the suspense in this book. This book was recommended to me by my 5th grade teacher. I decided not to read it, but this year I heard it was really good so I gave it a shot. And I like it a lot. A reason that I didn’t rate it a 10 is because the ending didn’t really give me much information about what happened after he got rescued. It also just didn’t really tie it all together. That’s just me it may be different for other people.
I was really surprised how fast I got hooked on to this book. By the time I reached the second chapter I couldn’t put the book down. I was totally impressed on the details when the porky pine hit him when he was sleeping. It made me feel like it was me with the needles in my leg. Brian, 13 years old is going to go visit his dad because his parents got a divorce. In the plane on the way to Brian’s dad’s house it’s just him and the pilot. Something bad happens and Brian finds him self alone in the wilderness with only the clothing on his back and a windbreaker with the hatchet that his mom gave him before he left. Now it’s up him and only him to try to save himself. Gary Paulsen does a good of making an interesting setting for the readers.
I wish that Gary Paulsen gave the readers more information about when Brian gets home. It’s kind of just a cliffhanger. The book could have had one more chapter to put everything together. The end was just loose and didn’t really fit with the middle of this book.
The genre of this book is realalistic fiction. You can tell it can happen in today’s world. It could easily have been in the past, but not so far back. It could have also been in the near future but the technology is not different than it is now. Or at least it didn’t seem like it.
A passage from the book that made an impression on me was this: “Dang. You’re him, aren’t you? You’re that kid? They quit looking, a month, no, almost two moths ago. You’re him, aren’t you? You’re that kid…..”
I like this passage for different reasons. One because in the book I was wondering if anyone was looking for Brian. So it gave me that moment where I understood everything, better. Two it makes you think back and make connections with what happened in the begging of the book.
I was most surprised when I found out what was happening to the pilot. I had so many questions. But I just had to find out by reading it. One thing made me think what if I was in Brian’s shoes what would I do? But I had no idea. Another thing that surprised me was when he found a bear and he had to get the only berry’s that he could eat to stay alive.
I liked the way there was only really one main character. It just made me focuses on what was happening to him and not have to worry about the other people. I did think about well what if this person found this and that kind of stuff.
I do not get way people decided t stop looking for Brian. I wonder if they thought he was dead or he got found by someone else.
Your student,
Natalie Corbett
Dear Everyone,
I recently read the book Hatchet by Gary Paulsen. I rated Hatchet a 9.5 out of 10 stars. I gave it a 9.5 because I like the suspense in this book. This book was recommended to me by my 5th grade teacher. I decided not to read it, but this year I heard it was really good so I gave it a shot. And I like it a lot. A reason that I didn’t rate it a 10 is because the ending didn’t really give me much information about what happened after he got rescued. It also just didn’t really tie it all together. That’s just me it may be different for other people.
I was really surprised how fast I got hooked on to this book. By the time I reached the second chapter I couldn’t put the book down. I was totally impressed on the details when the porky pine hit him when he was sleeping. It made me feel like it was me with the needles in my leg. Brian, 13 years old is going to go visit his dad because his parents got a divorce. In the plane on the way to Brian’s dad’s house it’s just him and the pilot. Something bad happens and Brian finds him self alone in the wilderness with only the clothing on his back and a windbreaker with the hatchet that his mom gave him before he left. Now it’s up him and only him to try to save himself. Gary Paulsen does a good of making an interesting setting for the readers.
I wish that Gary Paulsen gave the readers more information about when Brian gets home. It’s kind of just a cliffhanger. The book could have had one more chapter to put everything together. The end was just loose and didn’t really fit with the middle of this book.
The genre of this book is realalistic fiction. You can tell it can happen in today’s world. It could easily have been in the past, but not so far back. It could have also been in the near future but the technology is not different than it is now. Or at least it didn’t seem like it.
A passage from the book that made an impression on me was this: “Dang. You’re him, aren’t you? You’re that kid? They quit looking, a month, no, almost two moths ago. You’re him, aren’t you? You’re that kid…..”
I like this passage for different reasons. One because in the book I was wondering if anyone was looking for Brian. So it gave me that moment where I understood everything, better. Two it makes you think back and make connections with what happened in the begging of the book.
I was most surprised when I found out what was happening to the pilot. I had so many questions. But I just had to find out by reading it. One thing made me think what if I was in Brian’s shoes what would I do? But I had no idea. Another thing that surprised me was when he found a bear and he had to get the only berry’s that he could eat to stay alive.
I liked the way there was only really one main character. It just made me focuses on what was happening to him and not have to worry about the other people. I did think about well what if this person found this and that kind of stuff.
I do not get way people decided t stop looking for Brian. I wonder if they thought he was dead or he got found by someone else.
Your student,
Natalie Corbett
Holes by Phat V
April /25/2010
Dear Everybody,
I recently read the book Holes by Louis Sachar. I thought it was an amazing book and I rated it 10 out of 10. This book is very different from any other books. It’s not about sports or drama or anything. First I thought the book was going to be boring because of the cover but after I read the back of the cover it got my interest up. I’m sure you’ll like this book.
The main character is Stanley Yelnats, a boy who accused for stealing a pair of expensive shoes worn by a star. He lived in California until he had to go to a place called “Camp Green Lake” for bad kids. Camp Green Lake is in Texas and it’s isn’t a lake at all. That was over a long time over ago and now it is just a dry flat waste land. There are not very many animals lives there but if you come to animals it comes to rattlesnakes, scorpions and the scariest animal called yellow-spotted lizard. As you know how the rattlesnakes and scorpions kills us but the yellow-spotted lizards is very different. The yellow-spotted lizards like to live in holes, which makes shades from the sun and protection from their predatory birds. They have strong and powerful legs and can leap out of a very deep hole to attack their prey.
I don’t really get why they called yellow-spotted lizard but a lot of people don’t believe in them. If one bites you it doesn’t make a difference. It’s kind of weird that they named the lizard after their yellow spots. Each lizard has exactly eleven yellow spots, but the spots are hard to see on its yellow-green body. The lizard is from six to ten inches long and has big red eyes. Actually the eyes are yellow and the skin around it is red and it also has black teeth and milky white tongue. If you’ve ever been close enough to see the yellow spots, you are probably dead. And by the way, the Warden is way scarier.
I like how the author made up a very good story, it’s unexpected. You go to the camp to dig holes and you don’t know why. You just dig five feet wide and five feet deep hole each day. You do it for eighteen months and you get to release from that camp to go home.
I like this passage “She stepped toward him and struck him across the face. Mr. Sir stared at her. He had three long red marks slanting across the left side of his face. Stanley didn’t know if the redness was caused by her nail polish or his blood. It took a moment for the venom to sink in. Suddenly, Mr. Sir screamed and clutched his face with both hands. He let himself fall over, rolling off the hearth and onto the rug.”
I like this passage for two reasons. First is it shows the Warden is a very scary person. She doesn’t care about anything and she would do anything to a person if she’s mad. Second, I wonder why Mr. Sir didn’t call the police after this. It’s like he’s obey the Warden.
I don’t get why the other doesn’t tell the other kids who in different area just the one in D. In the D group there are five kids and include Stanley is six. Magnet, Armpit, Zigzag, X-Ray and Zero and Stanley’s nickname is Caveman. They were very rude to him when he first came to the camp but later after they were friendly. Stanley’s favorite is Zero. He wasn’t being mean to Stanley when he came. He doesn’t talk very much and he doesn’t know how to read. One day he came and asked Stanley to help him and Stanley helped him. They became good friends after.
I really like this book. I only told you like 1/3 of all the things I needed to tell you. There were many other things to tell but it’ll ruin it. So you just have to read this book to find out. The other book in the series called Small Steps. It’s also a very good book but I like this one way more! This is one of my favorite out of 10. I hope it’s one of yours too after you finished reading this awesome book by Louis Sachar.
Sincerely,
Phat
Dear Readers,
recently I read Down The Rabbit Hole by Peter Abrahams. I rated it a 10 out of 10 for a variety of reasons. I really like mystery books so that is why I read it. The book was recommended to me by a friend. I was about to not read it because it had 400+ pages, but when I was getting more into the book I couldn't put the book down. I was really surprised by how quickly I got attached to this book. By the time I reached the end of the second chapter the mystery was just started. I was so happy that the mystery was already started because in most books it doesn't start once you've ended half of the book. The genre of this book is definitely mystery because of the murderers. The main character Ingrid is a fan of Sherlock Holmes. During the book Ingrid is late for soccer practice and her parents are late to pick her up so she decides to run to her practice. On her she gets lost and finds a women and asks her for help but later in the book the women dies. So I would recommend this book to you because it is so awesome! The structure of the book towards the end was amazing because I really had a picture in my head of what was happening. The author Peter Abrahams did a fantastic job of using suspense and also taking time to make this book into a National Bestseller. A passage from the book that really made a scared look on me was this: "You didn't have to kill Katie," Ingrid said. At that moment I knew the killer was Gonna have to do something to keep Ingrid's mouth shut. I liked this passage for two reasons. One, because it was a very scary thing to say. I also liked it because it just made me want to think of what was going to happen next. Throughout the book, I noticed how the author only made the book very fun to read because I really think he couldn't have made the book better. I cant wait to read the next book, Behind The Curtain!
nick gunther the school story
The School Story by Nick Gunther
The school story by Andrew Clements I think was ok, but not one of the best books I’ve read. I think the name of the book she’s trying publish, the cheater, is very cheesy. I mainly think that because of the “the” in the beginning. If it would have been just Cheater, I think would have been better, because that really bugged me throughout the entire book.
What I think Andrew Clements could have also done better is that the storyline is also the same also as all his others. Take Frindle, for example. It’s a kid who has a huge imagination that pulls off a huge task that would really never happen. All it is truly is different characters and a different setting. I honestly think that his publishing company saw the success of Frindle and tried to copy it. If that is the case, then I have lost some serious respect for Andrew Clements.
I think that the characters weren’t that bad, but the book was kind of written for girls. And I think that’s just because about 3 out of the 5 characters are girls, and a girl would probably relate to them more than a male my age would. But, if I were a girl, I would think that the characters would be a lot more relatable. It’s not that it’s a bad book; it’s just that I am probably not the target audience for this particular read. One quote that really caught my eye was on page 32 and it kinda spoke to me a about how hard it is to publish a book from what's being spoken. "zoe's voice was hard. "let me talk to Cassandra day." "Give it up Zoe, Cassandra is dead.
In case you are confused, Cassandra day is natalie's psuedonym, or false name. During this time of the book, Natalie is feeling very pessamistic on the fact of her book being published. (I hope you all notice how the book is about publishing a book, because I find that strangely ironic.)
Also, Zoe is trying to help her publish natalie's book, and she is trying to give one of those cliche pep talks that you can find in just about any children or young adults book. (Zoe ends up giving this speech several more times during the story, and it begins to be annoying after a while.)I also think this quote is important be ause this is where the plot sort of starts to get interesting, because the first few chapters are just setting you up with the characters and the setting, and I found that very apparent in the first 2 chapters.
If I were to rate ths book on a scale of 0-5, (0 being he worst book ever written In history and 5 being the most groundbreaking book that everyone in the world should read.)
I would rate it about a 2, and that's being very generous towards Andrew clements and his book. The reason I say that is because like I said before, it's either the book is juvenile, or I'm not the target age for the book. It might be a little bit of both, a little more of one more than the other, but still a combination of the 2. I imagine maybe a 5th or 6th grader (although I probably have the maturity of oa 5th or 6th grader.) would like this book a bit more than I do. For an example, when you see little pieces of the book scattered across the story, when I did see them, I thought they were just low quality pieces of writing that 15 year old could throw together in about 1 minute altogether. Yes, I realize that this is written by a 10 or 11 year old, but this just reminds me why kids cant publish quality books. we don't have the developed talent for writing books yet.
Truthfully, i would not recommend this book to anyone I know that's my age.
Sincerely,
Nick Gunther
The school story by Andrew Clements I think was ok, but not one of the best books I’ve read. I think the name of the book she’s trying publish, the cheater, is very cheesy. I mainly think that because of the “the” in the beginning. If it would have been just Cheater, I think would have been better, because that really bugged me throughout the entire book.
What I think Andrew Clements could have also done better is that the storyline is also the same also as all his others. Take Frindle, for example. It’s a kid who has a huge imagination that pulls off a huge task that would really never happen. All it is truly is different characters and a different setting. I honestly think that his publishing company saw the success of Frindle and tried to copy it. If that is the case, then I have lost some serious respect for Andrew Clements.
I think that the characters weren’t that bad, but the book was kind of written for girls. And I think that’s just because about 3 out of the 5 characters are girls, and a girl would probably relate to them more than a male my age would. But, if I were a girl, I would think that the characters would be a lot more relatable. It’s not that it’s a bad book; it’s just that I am probably not the target audience for this particular read. One quote that really caught my eye was on page 32 and it kinda spoke to me a about how hard it is to publish a book from what's being spoken. "zoe's voice was hard. "let me talk to Cassandra day." "Give it up Zoe, Cassandra is dead.
In case you are confused, Cassandra day is natalie's psuedonym, or false name. During this time of the book, Natalie is feeling very pessamistic on the fact of her book being published. (I hope you all notice how the book is about publishing a book, because I find that strangely ironic.)
Also, Zoe is trying to help her publish natalie's book, and she is trying to give one of those cliche pep talks that you can find in just about any children or young adults book. (Zoe ends up giving this speech several more times during the story, and it begins to be annoying after a while.)I also think this quote is important be ause this is where the plot sort of starts to get interesting, because the first few chapters are just setting you up with the characters and the setting, and I found that very apparent in the first 2 chapters.
If I were to rate ths book on a scale of 0-5, (0 being he worst book ever written In history and 5 being the most groundbreaking book that everyone in the world should read.)
I would rate it about a 2, and that's being very generous towards Andrew clements and his book. The reason I say that is because like I said before, it's either the book is juvenile, or I'm not the target age for the book. It might be a little bit of both, a little more of one more than the other, but still a combination of the 2. I imagine maybe a 5th or 6th grader (although I probably have the maturity of oa 5th or 6th grader.) would like this book a bit more than I do. For an example, when you see little pieces of the book scattered across the story, when I did see them, I thought they were just low quality pieces of writing that 15 year old could throw together in about 1 minute altogether. Yes, I realize that this is written by a 10 or 11 year old, but this just reminds me why kids cant publish quality books. we don't have the developed talent for writing books yet.
Truthfully, i would not recommend this book to anyone I know that's my age.
Sincerely,
Nick Gunther
The Kite Runner
April 24, 2010
Dear Ms. Monaco,
Recently, I read The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini. Mr. Hosseini was born in Kabul, Afghanistan, where most of this story takes place. Also, like the main character, he emigrated from Afghanistan to northern California. Yet another similarity between them is that the main character becomes a successful writer, just like Mr. Hosseini. While the story is not an autobiography, sometimes it sure sounds like that because the author writes in first person and so passionately. In fact, for the first 50 pages, I thought the book was an autobiography.
I would rate this book a 9 out of 10 because it is really a great coming-of-age novel and every chapter leaves you hanging on the edge of a cliff to find about what happens next. However, since it is written for adults, some of the language and plot developments are a bit too mature for my tastes. Critics call the book a coming-of-age novel, because Amir, the main character and narrator, begins the story in 1975 Kabul, a period of relative peace in the turbulent city's past. Amir's father is a prominent entrepreneur with a respectable family name and the largest house in the neighborhood. He also has two servants, Ali, his lifelong friend, and Hassan, Amir's best friend. Although sometimes Amir likes to feel his superiority over Hassan and treat him unkindly, most of the time the two pals just hang out, flying kites or reading stories. The one problem is, Hassan feels a sacred, unbreakable loyalty to Amir, and sometimes this makes Amir uncomfortable, because even when he treats Hassan badly, Hassan is always the same: faithful, obedient, almost docile. But one day, this all changes, as Amir witnesses Hassan being brutally beaten up by the neighborhood's terror, Assef.
If I were the author, I know I wouldn’t have fast-forwarded from when Amir and his father, Baba were leaving Kabul for the last time to escape to Peshawar, Pakistan to when they are living in Fremont, California. The reason they were doing this was to escape the new Soviet regime, which didn’t like free-thinking entrepreneurs like Baba. So, they had to leave in the dead of night, leaving their house looking like they had just gone out for a walk or something, even leaving their dinner dishes out. First, they sat with about 20 other Afghanis in a large military truck on a journey of 170 kilometers to Jalalabad, an eastern Afghan city. After that, they waited several weeks in a smelly basement with the other emigrants for another truck across the Himalayas to Peshawar. But after this, the story cuts to Fremont, as Amir is graduating from high school. Personally, I was excited to see how the father and son made the journey across Asia to California. This might not have been very eventful, but still, I would’ve liked to know anyway.
I was struck by this passage: “We trekked up the hill, our boots squishing in the muddy snow. Neither one of us said anything. We sat under our pomegranate tree and I knew I’d made a mistake. I shouldn’t have come up the hill. The words I’d carved on the tree trunk with Ali’s kitchen knife, Amir and Hassan: The Sultans of Kabul…. I couldn’t stand looking at them now.”
This passage really made a mark on me because it sums the ultimate guilt that Amir now has to bear through the years, which is basically the main theme of the book. Later, he travels back to Kabul, to find his father’s old friend, Rahim Khan, on the cusp of death, desperately needing to tell him about Hassan. I won’t say what happens to Hassan, because this is a big surprise.
The narrative voice of Amir is excellent, because it makes you feel like you could easily relate to him, even if he is a 38-year-old Afghan-American living in California. Also, Amir likes to talk about the weather, so you feel like besides knowing the main events that happen in the story, you feel as if you were actually there, because of the great descriptions of scenery. For example, as Amir watches Hassan and Ali leave the house for the last time, he talks about the unusual weather occurring at the moment. Even though it is the heart of the Afghanistan dry season, late July, when it would usually be around 115 degrees, the city is being cooled by a rare thunderstorm. Amir describes looking through the windowpane as “trying to see through a river of melted silver”.
The Kite Runner is a New York Times Number One Bestseller, as was Mr. Hosseini’s first novel, A Thousand Splendid Suns. I would also like to read this book, because it is about the interesting subject of Islam, which I know almost nothing about.
Sincerely,
Your Student,
Graham V.
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