Choice Book Report #4

Introduction: 
    The book I read was A Northern Light. It was about a girl named Mattie who is an amazing writer. She dreams of going to college in New York to become a somebody. When money becomes an issue, she decides to work at the Glenmore Hotel. One day when she was working, a girl about 18 or 19 named Grace, came up to her, she handed her a pile of letter and told her: "Burn them. Please. Promise me you will. No one can ever see them." A couple days later, Grace's body was fished out of the lake right by the hotel. Now Mattie is stuck with a pile of a dead persons private letters. She discovers that the letters reveal the grim truth behind her murder.

Part 1: Characterization:
     When reading the book, I noticed two major characteristics of Mattie. She is determinded and unwise. The reason I think Mattie is determind is because, no matter what her father says, or anyone says, she wants to go to college. Along the way to becoming a college girl, Mattie comes to some obstacles. She gets proposed to and she has to decide whether to stay with him or go to college. Her father and her sisters get sick and she has to decide to leave and maybe lose her job, or  stay knowing her family may die. She overcomes every obstacle. To me, this shows a lot of determination to do what your heart is telling you to do.

     Mattie is also very unwise. For one reason, before Grace is found dead, she gives Mattie the letters and tells her, No one can read these. But, one night, the courious side of Mattie tells her to read the letters, and... she does. Once she reads one, she has to read the rest. One by one, she uncovers more, and soon she has the answer to the murder. The unwise part was that she never tells anyone untill she can't keep the secret it in anymore. If she had told before, the whole thing could had resolves faster and her conscience would have been relieved.

Part 2: Conflicts:
      Mattie has many conflicts within herself and with other people. An examples of things that are happening inside of her is that Mattie is fighting herself over love and love of an education. Mattie has fallen in love with Royal, and he with her. They want to get married, but Mattie also wants to go to college in NewYork City and if she get married, she would be made a farmers wife and a mother. Mattie conflicts with herself for months and months and while working toward an educaton, she is almost planning her wedding!
         
     Another conflict with Mattie is between her and her father. Don’t get me wrong, they would die for eachother but, things are just really tense. A reason why her father is so uptight would be because, his wife had died of cancer, and his eldest son left because he blamed his mothers death on his father. So, when Mattie wants to leave, you can imagine what happens. Fights loud enough to break a cement wall, people get hurt, thing are said that are not meant to be said. They grow apart. But when sickness comes; like most families, it bring them together. 

          The last conflict is external and internal. The conflict involves Mattie’s best friend, Weaver. Growing up in 1906 will bring some racism to any man darker than white. Weaver repeatedly gets into fights, whether it’s with a boy his age, three drunk men, or just some rude strangers. He hates being discrimminated against even though he is told over and over to ignore and walk away. But he doesn’t want to ignore and walk away. He feels the need to stand up for himself and others like him. Weaver feels he is doing right, which he is, he's just doing it in the wrong way, picking fights.

Choice Book Report Quarter #3

Part 1:

My choice book for second quarter that I read is called Flipped. This book was about a boy named Bryce and a girl named Juli. The first time Juli sees Bryce she flips. The first time the Bryce sees Juli, he runs behind his mom. Juli is obsessed with Bryce from 2nd grade up until 7th grade. In the book Juli says, "I spent all of 7th grade whispering spelling words and sniffing watermelon." The watermelon smell is coming from Bryce's hair. By 8th grade, feelings are being reversed for both. Some things are said and done and Bryce and Juli's lives become very complicated.

            Juli is an 8th grade girl who has been crushing on a guy since 2nd grade. He has been telling her nicely (then at times not so nicely), time and time again that he is deffinatly not interested. She never gets it until 8th grade when he starts to say things about her and her family and lying to her. This shows that Juli is determined, sometimes not in the right ways but deffinatly determined. She knows what she wants and won’t stop till its gone or hurting her family. Another example is when a tree, her Sycamore tree, had to get cut down. She was determined to stay with that tree whether it fell or stayed strong. She stayed for many hours ignoring the threats to call the police. She stays through the threats of chainsaws roar. She stays until her father comes and talks to her. A daughters safety was to important to him so he made her come down. Juli tried and tried to stay with that tree but just couldn’t. She burst into a waterfall of tears. Her father had painted her a picture of that tree and gave it to her after a couple of days. She was thankful for that picture. Everyday she woke up seeing it, and every night she fell asleep seeing it. She knew she ad done her best and there was nothing more that she could have done. The picture was kind of a thank you from the tree for being its loyal companion. This act of strength showed that no matter how caring, loving, and determined you are you can’t always win. Yet, in a way, everything comes back to thank you.

            Another major characteristic of Juli is that she is fragile. Not fragile like a glass but she has a fragile heart. If you say or do anything to hurt her of her family, she will shatter like a window during a storm. For example: in the book, Juli raises chickens. She gives 6 eggs to Bryce’s family everyday for free. Others pay. Bryce’s family won't eat the eggs because they are afraid that salmonella will be in the eggs.  Bryce then, everyday throw the eggs away. One day after this had gone on for 2 years, Juli came over with the half a dozen. When Bryce goes to throw them away, he sees that the trash is full. He takes the garbage and brings it to the front of the house with the eggs on top. Juli is still on the front step day dreaming when he comes out. When she sees him. She thinks that the eggs had just broken. She picked one up and when she saw that they weren’t broken and that he was just throwing them away, she ran off devastated. She never spoke to Bryce for weeks. All of this shows that Juli is very fragile.

Part 2:  
            The theme of the book "Flipped" is your "When you heart changes, it changes for the better". Why? Well, Juli thinks that Bryce is the one for her, but when he shows his true colors, she knows that he is completely wrong for her. Bryce starts talking behind her back and telling people about her family and things about her. He starts being a complete jerk. When she realizes this her whole perspective about him changes. When she sees him with his friends and sees that they always talk about her, her thoughts change about him. And finally, when Bryce insults her family, she has a complete change of heart. Her heart really did change for the better of her and her family.

            Bryce's heart change when he stops and really focuses’s on the good in Juli, not the creepy. He doesn't see her as an adolescent girl who has had a crush since forever, he sees her as a strong independent girl. He starts to constantly think about her and hopes he doesn't do anything wrong in front of her (He does make bad mistake in front of her though, bad mistakes.) When he sees that she can be herself no matter what, he changes perspective. When he sees how pretty her heart is, his thoughts change. When he sees that she is heart broken because of him, his whole heart changes for the better. So... now, you have Juli, who in the beginning loved Bryce and now hates his guts. Then there is Bryce, who at first was completely appalled by Juli and now he loves her. What will happen to them? At the end, Juli is obviously not speaking to Bryce, but when she sees him planting a tree, a tree for her, a Sycamore tree, and her heart flips again. Follow your heart, it knows what it wants.

Choice Book Report Quarter #2

    
    
Part 1: Characterization of Soren
     The book I read was The Capture. It's the first book out of 15 in the Guardians of Ga'Hoole Series. The main character in my book is Soren. Soren is a Barn Owl. There are 3 ways that I can describe Soren. He is brave, determined, and intelligent.
    
     Soren shows much bravery because in the beginning of the book, Soren is snatched. If your question is "What is being snatched?" then I will tell you. Soren falls out of his nest when he is just an owlet. He can't fly, so he must wait until his parents get back from hunting so they can get him and bring him home. The morning following the fall, he hears a noise. Soren believes that it is his parents returning home! He screeches, "Mom, Dad, is that you?" All of a sudden, Soren is scooped up into the claws of a huge owl. He is taken to an orphanage for young owls. He is without his parents, siblings, and friends. He is alone in a new place yet she is not discouraged. This show that Soren is very brave even when normal owls wouldn't be.

     Soren is also very determined. The orphanage leaders say that this orphanage is good for them; this is not true at all. They give them numbers for names and do not allow questions to be asked. The whole overall point of this place is to create mind control of all the young owls in the orphanage. When Soren finds this out, he is very determined to stay, well... himself. He somehow manages to stay normal with the help of his new friend Glyfie. They try to conjure up a plan to escape even when there seems to be no way out. This show how determined he is.

     Lastly, Soren is very intelligent. He figures out a way to escape from the orphanage with only little help from his few friends. When they finally escape, he is on his own with Glyfie. They fly, and fly, and fly till they could see no more. They realize one thing they forgot when learning how to fly, how to land. They twirl and toss, and twirl and toss, and twirl and toss some more when finally they land! Yet, they are upside down. They figure out a way to become upright thanks to an owl named Twilight. Twilight is the biggest Owl they have ever seen. They ask him if he can help guide them home and then to the Island of the Guardians. This shows that Soren knows who to trust and what to do when he needs help. Given the reasons I have told you, I believe that Soren is very intelligent.

Part 2: Like or Dislike???

     I really disliked this book. I have a total of two reasons. My first reason is that I found it really boring and my second was it didn't make any sense to me.
    
     The first reason that I thought this book was really boring was becasuse it went really fast. The story just kept moving without stopping to explain anything. Also, it was about owls. Who likes a book about owls? Especially one that talks? The owls kept referring to things that aren't even real. I usually like fantasy but, not this one. Something about owls must not appeal to me. The book was difficult to follow and was about owls, this is why the book was boring to me.

     My second reason for not liking the book was because it didn’t make any sense. Going back to what I said in my first answer, it was a really fast book. It went from one thing to another, to the next, to the next, to the next. I lost my place multiple times which caused a lot of confusion. I had to reread a lot of parts, actually most of the book. Not that this is a bad thing, but reading a book practically three times to understand it is kind of annoying. Also, the owls in this whole book just kept repeating themselves about what was happening to them in there lives. I understood the problem when they told me once, but having it also repeated several times was annoying.

     As you can tell, I really didn’t like this book. To like this book, you must have an open mind. I would say I do have an open mind but that this book needed a lot of it. This is why I didn’t like The Capture.

Choice Book Report: The Poisonwood Bible

     Part 1: Characterization
     There are many main characters in the book The Poisonwood Bible, but the character I chose to write about is Leah Price. Leah's personality in the beginning of the book is definately a "daddy's girl." Leah always wanted her father to be happy.  She would help him whenever he needed it or when no one else would. It was mandatory to keep him happy, always, all the time. If things upsetting to him, he would explode!!! So keeping daddy happy was the number one priority in her life. Into the book a little more and more, Leah starts progressing in becoming a much more independent girl; throughout the book it shows.

     Another part of Leah I got from reading about her, is that she is very caring for her famiy. Her twin sister, Adah, has a disease called Hemiplegia. The disease causes half of Adah's body to be limp. When in the womb, Leah stole most of Adah's nutriants causing this disease. Leah show much caringness to Adah progressing in the book. At first, Leah would just walk right on ahead of Adah while they were fetching water together. Adah would be home at dark from getting water, everybody assumes she was just playing in the backyard the whole time. No one even noticed she was gone. Leah becomes more attentive to her sister as she matures and becomes for independent from her father.

     Another part of Leah I found through reading this book was that see loved to hunt. More to the middle-end of the book, Leah becomes very interested and fond of hunting with her bow and arow. There is a part in the book when the tribe is running out of food. They come up with a plan to set part of the forest on fire and trap animals. The frantic animals would run out of the fire in fright and that's when the tribe would shoot the animals. Leah makes a shot and gets a deer!!! She's so proud. Another man in the tribe assumes that he killed the deer. The tribe leader has to make the decision whether it goes to a "white foreigner" of a tribesman. Of course it goes to the tribesman. Leah is furious! She know she killed that deer all by her self. She never gets over the deer. Always, at the most random times she would say, "That was MY deer, I know it!" This is how I know that Leah loved to hunt.

     The last part of Leah I am going to talk about is that she is very courages. At the middle end of the book, the Price family encounters a problem. Someone is stealing theirs eggs! They all want Nelson, a boy who helps in caring for the house, to figure out what's happening. That night, all 4 girls hear Nelson running around outside trying to congure a plan. Leah, finally speaking up says, " "This is wrong, I'm going to help him. Who else has the guts to come with me?" " After Leah says this, all 3 other girls diligently volunteer to come along. Nelson, with lots of Leah's help, comes up with a fool proof plan to catch the culpret. Leah decides to help a friend in need behing her parents back. If her father found out, he would make her write "The Verse." "The Verse" is a verse that  the girls have to hand copy. It's a 100 verse Chapter. It takes them hours to rewrite. For these reasons, it shows me Leah couragous. These are the thing that I think about Leah. She an amazing girl.

    Part 2: Point of Veiw

     The Poisonwood Bible was written in the Point of Veiw of the wife and the four daughters Nathan Price. One reason why I think that the author wrote her book in this Point of Veiw was to show the reader how mean and fierce Nathan Price was as a father and husband. In the beginning Nathan seemed like a regular preacher. He was really into getting people "Saved." Throughout the rest of the book, you see his real colors come out. He slaps his wife, breaks a plate, and yells at his children multiple times. He's just plain mean. I think if the author wrote the book in Nathans Point of View, that he could sway you into thinking that what he does as a person is out of the love of God or something like that. This is the first reason why I think the author wrote this in the Point of Veiw she did.

     My other reason why I think the author wrote in the Point of Veiw that she did was to give us more than one opinion on the way the family lived. The eldest Rachel, as a 17 year old, absolutly hates Africa. Why? I'll give you one good reason, there's no good mirror. Rachel is full of herself.  The twins, Adah and Leah , both seem to like Africa. They don't love it or hate it. It seems ok for them. The youngest, Ruth May, seems to love it. She likes playing with the children and seeing all the different type of animals. This is the second and final reason why I think the author wrote the book in the Point of veiw she did.

     The Poisonwood Bible was an awesome book. You should read it. It's full of love,family, and adventure.
    

Memior #2 Branson, Missouri

     The summer after 6th grade was a summer I would never ever forget. We went for a family vacation with 2 of our neighbors families. It was so fantastic to see all the sights, meet lots of new people, and to see the culture of the south.

     One of the best things that we did was go to Dolly Parton's Dixieland Stampeed. It was a whole western show about the North and South during the Civil War. It was a dinner and a show.The food was warm and extremely delicous. They had potatoes, homemade soup, fried chicken, cake and a lot more but I don't exactly remember everything. They had a lot of audience interaction including riding horses and games. It was extremly entertaining and fun to watch. It was my first dinner and a show.

    The other very fun thing we did, that was my idea, was go to the Titanic Museum. I love all the history and pretty much everthing having to do with the Titanic. The best part of the museum for me was all the things from the movie. There were costumes, scenery, props, video, behind the scenes footage, anything you can name was there. The thing that I remember the most from that room was a dress that Rose wore in the part of the movie when she and Jack were dancing in the lower part of the ship with everyone in the "Lower Classes." That dress is the prettiest thing I had ever seen.

     Branson was the best vacation ever! If you ever get a chance...GO!!! You'll have the best time of your life!

Memior #1 Just Don't!

      Because of one mans actions of drinking to much; I lost my dad. My dad was a 6th grade teacher in Foley. He and my mom met on an airplane; he going to Sweden and my mom going to Italy. They flew together to New York and from there they went their seperate ways, but there was an instant connection. They were married on October 13,1990. My brother was born March 19, 1994. I was born November 9, 1996. We were a happy normal family... till the day we wish never came.

     It was March 18,1998, the day before my brothers 4th birthday. My dad was driving home from work when a pick up-truck came into his lane and hit his car. My dad lost his life instantly.  He was only 34 years old. The door bell rang, and now that we know what was about to come after we answered it, we wish we never did. I was asleep in my crib and my brother was watching a bible story on the VCR. The news came and we couldn't believe it. The worst of all was that the driver of the pickup truck was a 21 year old who had just gotten his license back 2 weeks prior to the accident, because he had an underage DUI. It wasn't his first either. He had gotten another one before that, and it was too for underage drinking. The saddest part of it all was that the man who killed my dad, was one of his former students.


      My reason for writing this is because I want to get the message out to not Drink and Drive! It hurts not just others but yourself. You could go to prison. You lose the respect of everyone around you, even your loved ones. I loved my dad and miss him terribly. It all happened because of one mans bad decisions. So YOU can make the right ones. Don't Drink and Drive.... Just don't!

Go Apollo!

Swimming is done. That's it... that's all I'm saying. :'(