Summer Reading Entries (8/30/10)

The Red Pyramid

I just finished reading The Red Pyramid by Rick Roirdan. THe book is a bout how Carter and Sadies dad releases the egyption gods into the mortal world killing himself and making Carter and Sadie "host" Horus and Isis. THey must save the world from the choas of Set before the entire continent of N. America is destroyed by a gigantic pyramid. They do manage to stop Set with the help of the gods but in a way that makes the ending sastisfing and a pleasent suprise. I thought the book was really good and woud rate it a 5 out of 5 because of great characters and a great endng.

AV

The Battle Of Jericho by Sharon Draper


I've been wanting to read this book since I saw a classmate give a book talk on it a few weeks ago. It seemed like a book different from the books i usually read, so i gave it a try.


Jericho and his cousin Josh are thrilled to be asked to pledge for the Warriors of Distinction; the most popular club in the school. The Warriors of Distinction do toy drives and other things to help out people in their area. There are Fifteen pledges, fourteen boys and one very tough girl named Dana. The pledges are referred to as " Pledge Slime" and must call the members of the club " sir" and " master." The activities the pledges are forced to complete, after committing to several requirements and conditions, are supposed to prove their courage and help them learn to work as a team. But as the secret meetings continue and the things the pledges are forced to do become more and more horrible, Jericho begins to feel very uncomfortable. But not uncomfortable enough to break the vow of secrecy. Jericho amazes even himself by his willingness to sacrifice an amazing opportunity and even his own safety to get into the Warriors of Distinction. But the last thing the pledges are expected to take the " Leap of Faith." This means they must jump out the second story window of a building and land on only a mattress and a few pillows and scraps of rubber. Josh is the last to go. Although everyone before him landed safely, with the exception of one broken arm, Josh spins in the air, away from the semi-safe mattress and hits his head, hard, on a rock. He is dead.


The beginning of this book is pretty much what i expected, but the ending surprised me. I expected Jericho to end up with the girl he liked, but though he was with her during the majority of the book, they were not together at the end. I also never expected anyone to die. From the back of the book, i could tell that the Warriors of Distinction were going to get into some trouble, i never expected them to pressure the pledges to do anything as dangerous as jumping onto a mattress with some pillows and blankets on it. I also thought that it was interesting that Josh was the one to die. Most books end in a place of happiness and contentment, and although this one ended in a moment of temporary happiness for Jericho, him playing his Trumpet in honor of Josh, it is still an ending of discomfort and pain. In the other books i've read about death, the author reflects more on life going back to something near normal after the death, but in this one, there was no real reflection other than a brief conversation between Jericho and some of his friends about Josh's death.


My favorite part of this book was a brief conversation between Jericho and a boy at his school named Eric, who was bound to a wheelchair for life after falling off a fence he was planning to jump off of with his friends. It is about Eric and his wheelchair and how he has come to live with life like that. I predicted, after getting to the point in the book where Jericho and the rest of the pledges discover that they are being pressured to jump out the window and onto the mattress, that Jericho would refuse to jump because of what had happened to Eric, so i was surprised when he didn't make a choice like that. I wonder if Jericho had any regrets about jumping and convincing Josh to jump because he could've prevented it by sharing with Josh what happened to Eric and deciding not to jump. That is an example of the kind of reflection i would expect to see at the end of a book.


I would rate this book a 4.5 out of 5 because i think it would've been significantly better if the author had given more information about how Jericho and his friends moved on after Josh's death. I recommend this book to people in eighth grade and high school because some of the concepts in the book are a little difficult to comprehend.

ZR

Summer Reading Entries

The House of The Scorpoion by Nancy Farmer

This book is about a boy named Matt a clone of El Patron. El Patron is the lord of a small country called Opium which is in the middle of the United States and Mexico. While Matt is growing up he is discriminated against because he's a clone. El Patron loves Matt like a son because Matt is basically El Patron. One day El Patron gets sick and he needs a heart transplant from Matt. So Matt runs away to America. Life was rough in the beginnig when he first arrives in America.  Later he makes friends that became his family.

AB

The Red Pyramid by Rick Riordan

This book is about two kids named Carter and Sadie Kanewho are brother and sister. They are seperated when their mom died. Carter lives with his father a famous Egyptologistand travels all around the world. Sadie lives with their grandparents in London. Sadie only gets to see her father andbrother two times a yeat. During their visit on Christmas Eve their father tries to bring back Osiris the Egyption God of
the Dead. Instead he brings back five Gods. One of them was the Evil Red Lord Set. Set entombed their father and announced his plan to wake up all the Gods become king and destroy the world. On that day not only do they lose their father they meet their father's brother Amos for the first time. Amos explains to them that their ancestors where powerful Egyption magicians. They even find out that they have powers of their that their parents where magicians. Carter and Sadie have to rescue their father and save the world from the Evil Red Lord. They have some help along the way from other Gods. At the end they have to make the very hard choice of sacrificing their father's life in order to save the world.


AB


A Wrinkle in Time by Madeline L' Engle 
This book is abou two children named Meg and Charles Wallace their friend Calvin and Mrs. Whatsit.
Charles and Meg's father have been missig for a little more than a year. The thing is their father is not
lost on earth, he's lost in a different dimension. Mrs. Whatsit came out of a big dark cloud. She claimed
that there's a wrinkle in time and that's how they'll find Meg's dad. The universe is in danger by something thats shaped like a giant dark cloud. Planets are getting sucked up including the one that Meg's and Charles father is on. Mrs.Whatsit transported them to the planet Meg's father is on. The dark cloud took over Charles and led them to Meg's dad. Everybody except Charles escaped. So Meg goes back to get him because thats her brother. Meg gets him back to earth. I like A Wrinkle in Time because it's interesting and has a lot of action.

AB

The Battle of Jericho by Sharon M. Draper

This book is about a 16 year old boy named Jericho who is invited to pledge in the Warriors of Distinction along his friend and cousin. They are all excited because the Warriors is the most popular club in school. At first the task to get in the club are all fun and games. But then, the task became risky and dangerous. So dangerous that it takes the life of his cousin Josh and his friend Kofi gets injured. Jericho regrets joining the Warrios and some of the choices he made because of the pain it ends up causing him.

AB

One more week!

One more week to get your summer reading entries emailed to me.  After next weekend, I will not be posting anymore on this site so get them in as soon as possible!  Here are three more summaries.  Enjoy!

A Wrinkle in Time

Sorry that it was so long inbetween letters but It took me a long time to finish this AWFUL book.This book is incredibly weird having a five year old kid "who can sense things about others" and all the characters say things randomly like "Gaurdian Angels". The book is about how Meg has to save her father from the awfully perfect planet of Camotz andhow she also has to save her brother Charles Wallace from IT using the power to love. There was about six pages in the whole book where was actually interested. Not only could I easily put the book down I didn't want to pick it up at all. And for all the reasons I just listed I rate this book 2 stars out of 10.

AV

A Wrinkle in Time

A Wrinkle in Time is written by Madeleine L'Engle. It is about a family who's dad went missing on some trip for the government. There dad was part of a group of scientists who discovered how to tesser, add the fifth dimension to the other four and you can travel through space. So that means that a straight line is not the shortest distance between two points. Their dad tessered somewhere, but no one knew where. The children don't even know that he tessered in the first place. But three creatures have a idea of where he might be. So they take two of the children, Meg and Charles Wallace, and one of the childrens' friends, Calvin. Then they tesser to the place where Mr. Murry is captured by IT. IT is a evil Dark Thing and is eating small planets and hypnotizing everybody on the planet. Mr Murry has been fighting IT for a while and when the children come he is able to escape but Charles Wallace is hypnmotized by IT. Meg has to go back to the dark planet and rescue Charles, she is told that she has one thing that IT doesn't have but she can't figure it out. After a while she gets it, love. IT doesn't have love. She saves Carles by telling that she loves him. Then they all tesser home and the Murry family has a father again. I enjoyed the book.

IP

Ender's Game

In the beginning Ender got this monitor in the back of his head removed after that he played a game. He was really good at this war game. Then the world was attacked by aliens for the third time. He got sent to battle school because he was good at the game. At the end of the book the world was in is hands. I like this book because it was fast pacing which I like. I would recommend this book to some one who likes a adventures book.  

MC

And they keep on coming!

The Battle of Jericho

The Battle of Jericho written by Sharon M. Draper is about a boy name Jericho; a high school student who is asked or invited to pledge for the club called Warriors of Distinction; a club that has the newest clothes, shoes and have the best parties. In the story Jericho is very determined to be apart of this club for those reasons. Jericho is forced to make choices that hes not comfortable with, just to be apart of this club. Stuff like, jumping out of two story windows, beatings, and do terrible stuff, just for this club. This club Jericho thinks is worth everything he has, and he will do anything to be apart of it. This causes him to loose his best friend and cousin Josh.

Overall I really enjoyed this book, and hoping to read November Blues, next in the story line.

-NA

Only a few more weeks left!

Summer is coming to an end and school is just around the corner.  Remember to send me all of your summer reading summaries so I can post them on this blog.  Here are two more fantastic write-ups.

The Red Pyramid
The Red Pyramid was written by Rick Riordan. The Red Pyramid is about Carter and Sadie Kane and is based on Egyptian mythology. Carter and Sadie are brother and sister but don't see each other much. Carter lives with his dad and Sadie lives with her grandparents (their mother died). Julius (their dad) is allowed one day every six months with his daughter. On that day Carter, Sadie, and their dad go to a British Museum and their dad trys to bring their mom back but releases some evil Egyptian gods instead and he is captured by the evilest one, Set. Carter and Sadie have to travel to Egypt then to America fighting Set's minions. Finally, they arrive in Phoniex where they battle Set, who plans to destroy most of the U.S., and rescue their dad. I'm looking forward to reading A Wrinkle in Time.

-IP

Hoot, by Carl Hiaasen

I just finished reading Hoot, by Carl Hiaasen. About a year ago, one of my friends recommended this book to me, so when I saw it on the reading list i decided to try it. And I'm glad i did.

The plot began when Roy, the main character of the story, sees a boy running beside the school bus with no shoes on. Roy is confused. Why isn't this boy on the school bus with everyone else? So Roy decides to find out. At first, his encounters with the shoeless boy are mysterious; obviously, the boy did not want to be discovered. But eventually, Roy and the shoeless boy become friends. Then, an article is printed in the newspaper about the building site for a pancake house being vandalized. Roy has a sense that the shoeless boy, called Mullet Fingers, is behind it. And he's right. Before long, Mullet Fingers shows Roy why he's vandalizing it...and he has a good reason. There is a nest of Burrowing Owls on the site for the pancake house, and the supervisor of the construction site knows about it, but simply does not care. So together, Roy, Mullet Fingers, and Mullet Fingers' sister, Beatrice, show the town the owls. In the end, they decide to, instead of canceling the construction, to move the site.

This book had a big impact on me. I'd never thought kids could make that much of a difference, but this book proved me wrong. I would rate it a 5/5 because the style of writing is sophisticated, yet it's written in a way that kids can understand. I recommend this book to my little brother because he likes books about animals, particularly books about saving them.

-ZR

More Book Reviews!

Battle of Jericho
In the battle of Jericho written by Sharon M. Draper Jericho, a teenager in high school, was asked to be a pledge of the Warriors of Distinction, a club that has the latest shoes, clothes, and the best parties, but to be officially a Warrior of Distinction you must go through numerous tests including toilet swirly, beating, and even jumping out of a two story window. In this book Jericho gives up the chance of a life time. Part of a concert and a chance to get into Julliard just to get into a high school club. He loses the life of his cousin and best friend josh to the club.
-FR

A Wrinkle in Time
A Wrinkle In Time by Madeline L’Engle is about two children named Meg and Charles Wallace. In this book their friend Calvin tags along to help Meg and Charles Wallace find their father but he is not lost in the mall or in the city. He is lost in another dimension. Meg, Calvin, and Charles endure many difficulties including getting to the fifth dimension and beating the It. They make many friends one the way to the fifth dimension and they all get a gift, for example Calvin had the gift of speech.
 -FR

Summer Reading Entries

Below is the list of book reviews for the summer.  Keep them coming!

Woodsong 

I read the book Woodsong by Gary Paulsen,  This book was  bout this survivor man who likes to dog sled (like in the Iditorod). Through out the book he told about his experiences while you was preparing for the Iditorod. On the end of the book it finished with him completing the Iditorod. Just to finish the Iditorod was a big because it was hard. I like this book because it had a lot of action like what is going to happen next. I would recommend this book to someone who is always on there feet while reading a book.

-MC

Fair Weather

Fair Weather is written by Richard Peck. This book was about a family who lived in the country in Illinois in 1893. They got an invitation to go see their Aunt Euterpe who lived in Chicago and they got to go to the World's Columbian Exposition. So, Rosie, her sister Lottie, their brother Buster, and their granddad set out for Chicago. They are amazed by all the people, all the electric lights, how big the Columbian Exposition is, etc. They have so much fun and they help there widowed/depressed aunt to stop wearing black and she starts to get some friends. The book explained well about how it was to live back then. I really enjoyed my next book The Red Pyramid and will write about it sometime soon.

-IP

Hoot

Hoot was written by Carl Hiaasen. This book was about a small group of kids trying to save some burrowing owls that are 8 to 9 inches small and live on a construction site. The kids kept doing things to slow down the building of "Mother Paula's All-American Pancake House". The leader did most of the stuff, like puting crocodiles in the porta-potties, pulling up the survey stakes, puting snakes on the site to scare away watch dogs, etc. In the end they found out that Mother Paula's didn't have the right papers to build on the site because the owls were protected animals. I think that the book was a good book because it showed that when people set there mind to somthing that is right they can do it.

-IP

Wrinkle in Time

I read the book Wrinkle in Time by Madeleine L'Engle.  This book was about a regular family living in the forest. One day a creature appeared during a thunderstorm. The creature was helped the family find their father who had disappeared while working for the government. The book finished with them finding their father. I would recommend this book to someone who likes adventure. I personally did not like this book because there was not enough action so I got bored.

-MC


The House of the Scorpions 
I have just finished reading The House of the Scorpians by Nancy Farmer. It is about the struggles Matt has to endure because he is a clone. Matt is looked down upon by everyone in the ranch, but nobody dares to insult him because of El Patron, the dangerous old man who Matt was cloned from. Matt generally enjoys his life on the ranch but when the time comes when his heart is needed as an implant to save El Patron's life, he decides to run away to Saint Louis. He runs into many problems along the way such as the awful working conditions at the krill farm, Carlos the corrupt communist krill farm supervisor and the feared border control. He prevails by using his charisma, quick thinking and his longing for freedom to get him through. I would rate this book a 5 out of 5 because of a gripping storyline, great characters and descriptive writing that makes you unable to put this book down.
-AV


The Sky is Falling
The Sky is Falling by Kit Pearson is about two children who live in England during WWII. When their town starts being bombed, their parents decide to send them away to Canada as "war guests." When they arrive, they are put with a wealthy family called the Ogilvies. 
The older girl, 10, is called Norah. Her younger brother, 5, is Gavin. Norah is resentful towards her parents about sending them away, while Gavin is too young to really understand what's going on.
Mrs. Ogilvie, their new "grandmother," takes an immediate liking to Gavin. Norah, of course, resents that. She was already grumpy and mad at everyone because she was sent away, so it just adds on the her anger and depression.
Later on in the book, she attempts to run away, taking Gavin with her. She doesn't get far before realizing how much she needs her new family. On returnal, she has a much better attitude towards her family, as Mrs. Ogilvie does towards her. She quickly learns to accept them and her new country.
-PC


The House of the Scorpion
The House of the Scorpion was written by Nancy Farmer. Its about Matteo Alacran, who is the clone of El Patron. El Patron is a powerful drug lord of a small country, Opium. Matt is a normal boy in every other aspect, except most look down on him because they don't think he's a normal human. Matt has few friends--El Patron himself, Celia (his caretaker) Maria (a girl his age) and Tam Lin (his bodygurard).
When Matt discovers he is to be used as a donor for El Patron's sickly heart, he flees Opium, causing El Patron to die. However, Opium isn't the only dangerous place for Matt. He arrives in Atzlan, where Maria lives. However, he is immediately put to work in an orphanage, despite his wish to go to San Luis, the city where he hopes to find Maria. Eventually he escapes the orphanange. He finds Maria and ends up living happily with her and his three new friends from the orphanage, away from the dangers of Opium and the power-hungry Alacran family.
-PC


Bad Boy
Bad Boy is a memoir written by Walter Dean Myers. It tells the story of Myers' childhood life in Harlem leading up to his teenage years and adulthood.
Myers was born in 1937. He lived a mostly blissful childhood in Harlem. He was a mischievous boy, often getting in trouble with his teachers. However, he had a secret love for literature. He was constantly reading, often having to hide books from his peers for fear of being made fun of. As he grows older, he begins to write poetry as well.
When Myers started high school in an advanced placement class, things started going badly. Problems with segregation arose. Myers wanted to fit in with the other boys, but felt he couldn't because of his love for reading and writing. Then, when Myer's uncle died, Myer's father became depressed and dragged Myer's mother down with him. Myers began to skip school more and more often up to the point where he went to school one day only to discover it was out for the summer. That was his senior year, meaning he had run out of chances to graduate and have a better life. Finally, after a long period of barely surviving on low-paying jobs, Myers realizes it was not the life he wanted to have. He turned back to literature for comfort. After making a sufficient amount of money writing for men's magazines, Myers entered a writing contest in 1968. He won and his first book was published. He has been writing ever since.
-PC

The Battle of Jericho
This week I read The Battle of Jericho by Sharon M. Draper. It's about a high school boy named Jericho and the struggles he has to go through to get accepted into the Warriors of Distinction. The Warriors of Distinction is a very exclusive high school club who are known to wear the best clothes, throw the best parties and to contribute to society. But the club initiation ceremony is a long, hard, treacherous week full of unbelievably disgusting rituals such as dunking your head into toilets and getting dragged around on leashes. All of that though is nothing compared to the last pledge ceremony in which they are forced to jump out of a second story window. Everything goes horribly wrong when Jerichos' cousin, Josh lands on his head and dies. I would rate this book a four out of five because of great characters and a compelling story-line. I would recommend this book to sixth graders because simple word choice but older ideas.

-AV