Monday, September 5, 2011
Welcome to our blogspot!
Hey, 8th graders! I'm really looking forward to reading your posts about your independent reading choices throughout the year! I'm hoping you'll get started in class this week and post your first description of what's going on in your current book. Over this Labor Day weekend, I finished The Disreputable History of Frankie Landau Banks and took Amy's suggestion for the graphic novel Stitches by David Small. I'll talk about that one first. It was my first graphic novel, and I LOVED it! I don't usually finish a novel in one sitting, so it was nice to sit down for about 45 or so minutes and finish it. The basic premise is a current adult's reflection on when he dealt with cancer as a kid, but really it's about his messed-up family relationships and dynamic and how he coped with that. It was exceptional in its illustrations and simple, clear text that said so much. It's in our library, so check it out (my daughter has it now, but I'll be returning it soon!). The Disreputable History...novel had a fun plot and a spunky narrator, who is a sophomore girl at an elite boarding school. I really like the book's theme about girl power and relationship dynamics, but I was disappointed in the dialogue (very unnatural/forced) and in general I didn't think the writing was very strong. Still, it's a fast, light read & would recommend it for fun. Your turn... (btw...this post is about 240 words, so use it to guage the length of your own).
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hey myles
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ReplyDeleteI am reading football hero by Tim Green. One character that interests me is a journalist named peele. He is after troy, the main character, for always being on the sidelines at Atlanta Falcons games. Troy is hiding from him that he actually calls the defensive plays for the Falcons. Peele is also after a linebacker on the team. They played college football together and the line backer hit peele so hard that it ended his career.Ever since Pelle has been after the linebacker trying to soil his name and end his career.
ReplyDeleteI am reading "Peaches" by Jodi Lynn Anderson. The basic plot surrounds three fifteen-year-old girls, Leeda Cawley-Smith, Murphy McGowen, and Birdie Darlington. The story is set in Bridgewater, Georgia on the Darlington peach orchard. Each of the girls somehow ends up at the orchard during Spring break. Leeda is part of a VERY wealthy family that owns three bed and breakfasts in town, but the problem is that everyone in her family likes her sister, Danay, better. And, instead of going on a camping trip with her boyfriend during break, her parents have subjected her to two weeks at her uncle's peach orchard. Murphy does not have any siblings or a dad, and to make matters worse her mom is always bringing new boyfriends home. Murphy is very much a troublemaker and doesn't really like having rules. One night, Murphy decides to steal from the orchards main house and ends up getting caught. She is then sentenced to work on the orchard for the entire spring break. Birdie's dad owns the peach orchard and she is also Leeda's second cousin. At the very beginning of the book, Birdie's mom leaves the orchard and basically tells Birdie's dad that she thinks he loves the orchard more than her. Her mom home schooled her, so she is not too familiar with social situations. So far, the book isn't too interesting, but I think it is going to pick up soon.
ReplyDeleteI am currently reading the book Revolution by Jennifer Donnelly. The story is about a 17-year-old girl named Andi who lives in Brooklyn, New York. She has a passion for playing the guitar and anything else related to music. However, she is not so interested in is her schoolwork. After her younger brother’s recent death, her dad being distant from her family and her mother being forced into a mental health facility she is forced to adventure off to Paris, France with her father. While staying at a family friend’s house that majors in the French Revolution, and is now building a museum for it, Andi discovers a diary belonging to Alexandrine Paradis. Andi is fascinated by the stories the girl writes about, two centuries ago.
ReplyDeleteIn my opinion, I feel as though the book is extremely dark and mysterious. I think that this is because the main character, Andi deals with a lot of struggles in such a short period of time. This makes the rest of the book seem lighter and more exciting. I think the author does a good job of contrast in the book because for every bad thing that happens in the story, there is always something good. I also like the idea of having the book set in two different time periods. Although, I don’t particularly like historical fiction, having it switch off between modern times and historical it makes it an easier transition for me. So far I really enjoy this novel!
I am reading the book "Numbers" by Rachel Ward. It is a very good book. It is about Jem, a girl who can see people's death dates by looking into their eyes. She discovers she has this talent after she finds her mother dead. She starts hanging out with a boy named Spider. Spider is very mysterious and shares his own secrets. As soon as Jem sees Spider she's knows his death date and she also knows it's a bad idea to hang out with him. The pair get closer and closer and when they go to the London Eye together Jem sees the the same death dates on many people and they two run from the scene. Seconds later the London Eye explodes, but Jem and Spider are the two main suspects . They run away together, but as Spider's death date gets closer Jem doesn't know what to do.
ReplyDeleteI think having ability to tell people's death date is a very interesting talent. I also think that the author is very creative for thinking of this. It is interesting that Jem finds this power as a burden, but I think it could be useful in someways. If I had this ability I think I would work somewhere where knowing people's death dates could help them. I do think that Jem does a good job using her ability when she needs to. So far this book is really good and I'm excited to find out what happens.
I am reading the book "1984" by George Orwell. Many of you know this author already because he also wrote Animal Farm, which we read in 7th grade. This book is Orwell's haunting premonition of what life would be like in 1984, based on the way he saw the direction that the government was heading in the year he wrote the book, 1949. Winston smith is a commoner who lives in Oceania, where the government is called "Big Brother." There are things called telescreens in every room (yes, even bathrooms) where everything you say and do is recorded and always being watched. Because of this, any sort of rebellion against Big Brother is almost impossible. Yet, there are rumors of a secret society called "The Brotherhood" that has managed to be the only organized rebellion group. Through many secret messages and signs, Winston is able to join this group. At my current place in the book, Winston has received a secret book written by the leader of “The Brotherhood,” Emanuel Goldstein, about the history of Big Brother, which has been shrouded in mystery.
ReplyDeleteThis book so far has really opened my eyes to the faith that we put in our government. If the government says something, we believe that it is true. The frightening thing is, as Orwell cleverly points out, is that it is precisely this ignorance by the people of Oceania that has allowed the government to progress to such a personal level where they control everything you do. It is only the outside knowledge that the reader has that allows them to see the treachery that Big Brother is really committing outside of the limited knowledge of the public.
Another major theme in this book is the importance of history. Winston works in a branch of Big Brother called the records department, which basically changes all of the records of history such that it makes Big Brother look impenetrable and never wrong. Without this important documentation, it is impossible for anyone to prove that Big Brother has made any mistakes, or done anything wrong or hurtful. This gives Big Brother ultimate power.
I am currently reading The Power of Six by Pitticus Lore. The book The Power of Six is the sequel to the book I am Number 4 which is also by Pitticus Lore. The Power of Six is about a teenager named John who is from the planet Lorien and had to flee his planet because an enemy race came and destroyed everything. John left with 8 other gifted children who would grow up to have extraordinary powers. He also left with 9 other Cepen who would be their mentors. A group called the Mogadorians is hunting down John on earth and is trying to kill him. His main goal is to meet up with the other surviving 6 and join forces to defeat the Mogadorians. During the book John has been through some very rough things. He has found a friend named Sam whose father has been kidnapped by the Mogadorians. He also gets kidnapped by the FBI on charges of being a wanted terrorist and killing 5 people. Number 6 luckily comes to rescue john. She is a very experienced fighter and has the abilities of invisibility and telekinesis. John then gets chassed around the US, starting in Ohio and ending somewhere in West Virginia. The book also mentions numbers 7 and 10 who are somewhere in Spain. They are also being hunted by Mogadorians along with 10’s Cepen. Over the course of the book there has been nothing said about numbers 5 or 8.
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In the past couple of days, I finished the book Feed by M.T. Anderson. It was a total of 299 pages. Although I was planning to read The Astonishing Life of Octavian Nothing, I found this book sitting on my book and opened to the first page. The setting is set in a futuristic world, where people could go to different planets for vacations, flew in upcars, but most importantly, most people had a feed. A feed was something planted in the brain, and people use the feed to take in information, send information, chat, but also make decisions. Titus leads a normal life, but meets Violet on a trip to the moon. Violet was always different; the way she talked and thought. But when a hacker messes with Titus and Violet’s feed, Violet starts to change. She begins to resist the feed, and starts to think about what good it would be to not have it.
ReplyDeleteOriginally, I thought this book would’ve been very good, hearing mentions of it in other books I read, and the shiny “National Award” metal on the cover. However, I thought the book and character development could’ve been better. Violet should’ve had a bigger impact on Titus, and the explanation of the feed wasn’t quite explained to the fullest. The resistance to the feed wasn’t as prominent as I expected, but was more about how it was affecting her and about her relationship with Titus. The ending was also a dead end. In the end, I would rate this book six out of ten.
Right now I am reading a book called Hacking Harvard by Robin Wasserman. It has been very interesting so far and I highly recommend it. It is about a group of three friends, named, Max, Erik, and Shwarz. Their favorite thing to do is pull pranks on their high school only they consider them hacks not pranks. All three of them are very smart and Shwarz is actually a freshman at Harvard. There is another group a bit like them but, "second best on the hacking circuit" Who attend another school in the Cambridge area. These two boys labeled "the bums" challenge max to a bet and he excepts without telling the others but they agree, after awhile, to help. The objective is for Max, Erik and Shwarz, "To get one deadbeat, fully unqualified slacker into the most prestigious school in the country." That school being Harvard. The prize is a very large sum of money and if they don't get this slacker, named Clay Porter in to Harvard they will be the ones paying up. The biggest road block is the SAT the boys have to hack into the computers to get the answers and they relay them to Clay over a microphone as he takes the test. Another problem at first is the way Clay dresses, so they decide to make his new image an artist and he may think it's crazy but if everything works out he will end up with a large share of the money.
ReplyDeleteThe book I am reading right now is annapurna by Maurice Herzog. I am not too far into the book but it starts off very fast and I am already into it. The main plot of the book is that there is a group of mountain climbers from France that are trying to summit the highest mountain ever reached be man, annapurna. The book was written in the 1950’s so no one has yet summated Mt. Everest. Mt. annapurna is 26,493 feet above sea level, just 2,500 feet shorter than Mt. Everest which is 29,029 feet above sea level. The expeditions leader, Maurice Herzog is portrayed in detail as a very hard working and admirable person who is very fitting of the job. His companions, Jean Couzy, Mercel Shatz, and Louis Lachenal to name a few were also accomplished climbers and chosen to go on the expedition by the French mountaineering committee. The only prize is pride, and as the book puts it, it is every mountain climbers dream to climb the highest mountain so far. It is also said that when these men completed their expedition their lives and dreams were fulfilled. The book would be a great read for most, but the language can be difficult.
ReplyDeleteThe independent reading book I have chosen is The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins. The book has started out with a few characters, Gale, Katniss, Prim and Katniss' mom. They are in need of grain which is obtained when you put your name into the hunger game drawing. In the chapter I can tell they need the grain because they are hunting when it is against the law. Katniss seems to be a kind person so far. So far I would recommend this book to pretty much anyone. I am pretty picky about reading only realistic fiction but I have enjoyed the start of this book. At the end of this chapter Prim gets chosen so it is a pretty big cliffhanger.
ReplyDeleteThe independent reading book I am reading is a book called hacking Harvard by Robin Wassserman. So far there are three main characters Schwarz a smart but very odd kid already in Harvard, Max Kim a boy in high school who is pressured by his parents to go to Harvard (when he doesn't want to) and Eric another character in high school who is a "hacker" along with Max and Schwarz. The three characters are all friends and when the book started they were breaking into their high school. Max Kim considers himself a "hacker" and is a tech savvy clever kid. The book started out explaining all of the characters lives until Max makes a bet with two other "hackers" from another school. The theme of the book is how the Harvard system of picking kids to go to their school is flawed so, the bet was, Max has to somehow hack the system and get a completely unqualified, unintelligent and terrible student into Harvard. Once they find the unqualified student they end up paying him 500 dollars to do it. But he bet the other hackers 2500 dollars to essentially "hack Harvard' and get a completely unqualified student into the school. At this point I don't really understand how they are going to do it and the only flaw they stated about Harvard's choosing process is that they pick kids who may not be that great of students but there parents pay their kids way in. But so far the book has been pretty exciting and interesting and I want to read more.
ReplyDeleteThe book I am reading is called The Giver by Lewis Lowry. So far, there are five main characters. Jonas and his family, and his friend Asher. Right now Jonas lives in a world were you are born from one mom along with three other babies but put into different families. Once you turn twelve, you recieve a "life time job".
ReplyDeleteAt this, you begin to take training classes to prepare for the real thing. The author has really tried to explain how the main character, Jonas, is feeling about this. He has used several different words to describe his emotions. Like; anxious, ambitious and comprehensive. At this point it is December and this is the month were you are chosen for the job. Jonas's job is called The Giver. The giver an old man who after generations and generations has been passed down several memories of the past like snow and heat and pools and pain and danger and all sorts of this that the people of this community have never been exposed to. The funny thing is, everyone I know has already been exposed to it and for the other to make so that already know what he will experience if he was say......... Go sledding on a lake of ice, hit a groove in the ice and crash into a tree. We already know he will experience pain but he does not know that. So far I have found this book very interesting and I hope one day you guys can read it too.
Right now I am reading a book in the harry potter series called; Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban. I'm not very far in the book but when I was reading it was very engaging. I have read the first and second book in the series and now, I'm on the third. Each book represents a year at his school; Hogwarts. All of the books were hard to put down and I definitely recommend them. This book is about a very deadly prisoner, Sirius Black, escaping Azkaban and supposedly going after Harry.
ReplyDeleteIn the book so far, harry is back with the Dudley’s over summer break. He once again isn’t noticed, no different from the other summers. He has to do his homework late at night in secret, and is forbidden to use magic. Did I mention he is barely fed and sleeps under the stairs? And to make matters worse uncle Vernon breaks the news to him that Aunt Marge is visiting, which is also an unpleasant thought. Although harry was forbidden to use magic; Aunt Marge irritated harry to a point that he had to use it. He blew her up like a balloon and watched her float to the ceiling. Now he was really in trouble. He knew he would have to face the consequences with both the Ministry of Magic and his aunt and uncle. On the brighter side of things harry had celebrated his first birthday in three years, he got cards and presents from each of his closest friends at school: Hermione, Ron, and his closest mentor; Hagrid.
The book that I am reading is called Boot Camp. Boot Camp is a story about a boy named Garrett. Garrett is taken one night from is home and taken to a boot camp known as lake Harmony. Lake Harmony is nothing lake its name. Lake Harmony is a boot camp for none disciplined kids. At this camp the kids are beaten, humiliated, and all pride they might of had for themselves is taken away. Once Garrett arrives at this camp he is immediately followed by two large body guards who watch his every move. There are no interactions with the outside world except for letters to your own parents. The camp is so far from the outside world if u tried to run away u would die before u reached any human being. But garrett believes he is being sent here for the wrong reason. The only way to get out is to either try to escape or graduate from lake Harmony. But garret decides to try to take the easy way out. When he heres about a possible escape plan. This could be a very risky idea but could also be is only way out of this so called "Lake Harmony."So what should Garrett do try to graduate from lake Harmony witch he may never do or try to escape.
ReplyDeleteThe book I am reading is titled SLAM!. It is named after the main character Greg who is nick-named Slam because of his basketball skills. He just transferred to a new arts school. Here he is on scholarship for his amazing drawing skills.In theory it would be Greg's dream school.But he is having a hard time because the work is so much harder than his last school. And he can not seem to connect with his peers as he seemed to do so easily at his old school. Art class is the only class he is not failing and the vice principle is telling him not to try out for the team this year. Instead of playing ball he wants Greg to hit the books and study. But from Greg's point of view, basketball is all he has left. Basketball is the one part of his life he feels he is still thriving in.
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ReplyDeleteThe book that I am reading is called "Legendary Stanley Cup Stories". By Brain McFarlane. It is a very interesting book because it shares all the interesting moments and stories that the hockey players had during and after their chase for the cup. The book is cool because it dates back to around 1890! The book shows the similarities along with the differences that player thought and did then and now. It is cool to see the way the game has changed just based on the players' feelings about the season and the playoff runs. The guys that are interviewed in this book are the ones who made a difference for their team either in the regular season or help their team win the cup. There are a few good stories about teams or players who were supposed to win the cup, but were unable to because they were defeated or got injured. Some of the teams that were "underdogs" that win the cup have some very interesting stories. One of the players has memorized hearing what his coach told them before the elimination game in the first round of the playoffs, that is how much this means to these players they can hear something just once and repeat exactly how the coach said it 5-40 years later. I'm a quarter of the way through this book and I look forward to reading more really interesting stories.
ReplyDeleteHi this is sosa, and I am now reading a book call " the seven habits of an effective teen." Now just to let anybody who reads this know, this book was picked out by my mom and she said I would like and I think I do. This book is about seven habits that teens get into like procrastination, and the author Sean Covey, breaks down the habit and explains how it could make you or break you. The seven habits are being proactive which means having control and taking responsibility for you life. Begin with the end in mind which means define your mission with a goal in mind. Put first things first which means prioritize, and do the most important thing first. Think to win, which means have an everyone can win attitude and always stay positive. Seek first to understand, then seek to be understood which means listen to people sincerely, then explain your thinking and a gree or disagree politely. Synergies which means working together with a friend that is productive and wants to get homework done is the best to work person to work with. The last ones sharpen the saw which means renew yourself regularly. This is one of my favorite habits because this is where you can watch tv or play video games or read or any other way you choose to relax.
ReplyDeleteThis is Brandon and I am reading the autobiography of Malcom X.
ReplyDeleteThe book is about Malcom X who was involved was a civil rights activist and a member of the nation of Islam. Malcolm X starts out as a thug and gets in a lot of trouble but later becomes a muslim and becomes a civil rights icon. The book tells you about his very interesting life and so far I like it a lot. It starts out telling you about mostly his father, his family and a little bit of his childhood. It told me how the Ku Klux and hatred from whites influenced his life. His father is dark skinned and his mother is very light skinned and the book tells you a lot about how light skinned and dark skinned black people were treated differently back then and still today. I think this topic is very interesting and good to read about so I was intrigued immediately. Malcolm's father treats him much better than his other siblings because Malcolm is lighter, while his mother who is light skinned treats Malcolm worse because he is lighter and does not want to favor him just because of that. I think later in the book it will touch on the color complex a little bit more as well. Sadly his father dies and I have not yet figured out why yet. I think this book will be a very good read and from what I have heard it is good to have read this book for future conversations as an adult.
I just finished the book Legendary Stanley Cup Stories last week. The book was very interesting because it really showed what the players where thinking and doing in their playoff run. The book has some very interesting interviews with famous hockey legends. Some of the interviews with the older players were right after they won the cup and some 5 - 50 years after, it is cool to see the difference in the way the players feel right after winning it and several decades after winning the Stanley Cup. When they asked some Bobby Orr about what his feeling were about the Stanley Cup, he said for the older players on the team it is rejuvenating to finally win it, but also to see the younger players win it in their early years in the league is strange. In a perfect world everybody should win it. There are rookies on the team that don't do much and still get their name on the cup, and yet there are older players that help their team in every game that never get their name on the cup. The way Mr. Orr calculated it, each player will have his name on the cup for 65 years before that belt goes into the Hockey Hall of Fame and another belt is added on.
ReplyDeleteI just finished reading the book Hockey Superstitions. It was a very interesting because it was all about the superstitions that hockey players have. The book is really interesting because it is all about the worries that NHL players have. In the beginning the have stories told by former players about their superstitions and how the affected their career. The superstitions that these teams and players have are very interesting because some of them are believable because of how many times the work. Some of the superstitions are league wide. If a player dies during his hockey career, no player will wear is jersey number on that team. Hockey is a weird sport because of the the time of year the season is, all players have the summer off. Some players will go to the same places as the did a year ago, if the have a good season. If they do poor they will do the opposite things. Every player has their own pre-game, or pre-season routine, they believe that it helps their performance on the ice. Even commentators for the games have superstitions, if the team they like's goalie is doing well they say nothing about their stats if the other team's goalie is doing well they share a lot of stats with the viewers.
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