To Kill A Mockingbird: 12/16/14

Do any of the characters feeling change as you’ve read? Explain why or why not.

     The three main characters all experiance change during the course of the story. The story takes place over three and a half years and the characters all experiance growing up. One of these characters is Scout. She is six years old at the beginning of the book and grows up to nine years old. At the beginning of the book she is carefree and happy. The main thing the book and her are focused on is trying to see Boo, a neighbor they have never seen. She does not know the dark side to some of the people that are her neighbors. In the second half of the book, the main thing she and the book are focused on is the trial of Tom Robinson. Scout sees the bad side to some of her neighbors. She bacomes much more mature in this part of the book. There is a great difference between her happy, carefree attitude at the beginning of the book and her no-nonsense, tough attitude at the end.

     Another character that experiances change is Jem. Throughout the book Jem changes from a boy to a man. At the beginning of the book Jem is very close to his little sister Jem. He enjoys playing childish games with her and does not mind playing with someone who is not very mature. He does silly things like tries to get Boo to come out by using a fishing pole to give him a letter. Later in the book he stops doing childish things. He stops including Scout in the things he is doing. He and Dill, who is more mature then Scout, do things on their own without Scout. He starts thinking and acting more like an adult. He even grows chest and armpit hair. 

     A final character that experiances change is Atticus. At the beginning of the story he is cheerful and happy. He plays with Scout and Jem. This is very different from his personality at the end of the book. At the end of the book he is grim and isolated. This is because of the trial of Tom Robinson. He was appointed to represent a black man. Because of this many people in the town began to dislike him. He also had to do some things he did not want to do. One of these was to shoot a dog. He was upset that he had killed another creature. Also many bad things had happened to him. The two main ones were that Tom Robinson was killed and Scout and Jem were attacked by Bob Ewell. Bob was killed while doing this and Atticus was convinced that Jem or Scout killed him. This is why Atticus experianced change.

To Kill A Mockingbird: Found Poetry

Atticus said,
Real courage is,
Not a man with a gun in his hand,
Given him an unfair advantage,
Real courage is,
Licked before you begin,
Begin anyway,
No matter what,
Real courage is,
All men are created equal,
no matter who he is,
Real courage is,
keep your head up,
fists down,
We were still struggling,

To Kill A Mockingbird - Character Analysis

Prompt: Aunt Alexandra and Atticus

     Atticus and Aunt Alexandra are similar because they both have morals. One of Atticus' morals is to be kind to all living things. Miss Maudie says, "I think maybe he put his gun down when he realized that God had given him and unfair advantage over most living things." Aunt Alexandra has morals also. Her morals are that her family is the best and is better than everybody else. In the story it states, "She never let a chance escape her to point out the shortcomings of other tribal groups to the greater glory of our own." This is a similarity between the two. Also both people have an influence on Scout. In the book it states, "Jem and I were accustomed to our father's last-will-and-testament diction, and we were at all times free to interrupt Atticus for a translation when it was beyond our understanding." This is the effect Atticus has on Scout. It also states, "We decided it would be best for you to have some feminine influence." This is the effect Aunt Alexandra has on Scout.

     Two differences are the morals they have. Atticus believes that all people are equal and should be treated equally. Aunt Alexandra believes that her family is the best family and everyone else is lesser. These are complete opposites. Another difference they have is the influence they have on Scout. Atticus teaches Scout to be kind to people. He also teaches her advanced vocabulary. Aunt Alexandra teaches Scout how to act like a woman and to act superior to other people.

     Atticus is Scout's father. He teaches her how she should act and vocabulary. The effect this has on Scout is that she is very mature for her age and also very smart. This is because of what Atticus teaches her. Aunt Alexandra comes to live with Scout and Atticus to try to be a mother figure. The effect she has on Scout is that Scout becomes more aware of prejudices that people can have. Scout also learns about her family history. Aunt Alexandra teaches Scout these things.

To Kill a Mockingbird - Photo Analylis

                                                                                             Sidewalk Scene in Selma, Alabama. 1935. 

                                                                                             Selma, Alabama. By Evans Walker.

Observations:

This picture is of people in front of a building with a sign that has numerous items written on it. The people are all sitting and not walking into or out of any shops. Nobody is walking anywhere and they are all talking. The store has a Coca-Cola sign in the window. The sign says "trading post" on the top.

Inferences:

The sign that says trading post and names items tells that the building is a shop and those items are what it sells. The people do not have anywhere to go or are not being rushed to where they need to be because they are sitting and talking. This location is a long time age because there is a lot of space between the shops and the road there are no cars visible.

Questions:

What was the rest of the community like?

How many people lived here?

What are these people doing?

What do these people do?

Could this be Maycomb?

This could be Maycomb because it matches the how Harper Lee describes the town of Maycomb in To Kill a Mockingbird. Lee writes, "People moved slowly then. They ambled across the square, shuffled in and out of the stores around it, took their time about everything." The people in this image are not moving quickly. They are in what could be a town center and are near a store. This matches up with how Lee describes Maycomb.

Into the Wild: 11/19/14

Prompt: What were some problems the main character faced.
Pages: 131-end

     This part of the book talks about what difficulties the main character faced while in Alaska and what caused him to die. The biggest problem that Chris McCandless faced was that he did not have a map of the area. This led to two problems. The first was that he crossed a small stream that would soon turn into a large river when the ice and snow melted. He did this while traveling from the main road to the area he would attempt to survive in. Another problem not having a map caused was that he did not know that a river crossing was nearby. This resulted in him being trapped in the woods for a very long time and ultimatly caused his death.

     The second problem Chris McCandless faced was that he ate moldy seeds. He had eaten many of these seeds before and knew they were safe but ate seeds with mold. This crippled him and could only be flushed out by extra protiens or fat in his body because surviving in the wilderness had weakened him and taken away these proteins and fats. He could not go out to look for food and starved to death because of this. This was one of the main reasons he dies.

     Finally Chris McCandless was very self confident. He left his home and traveled across the United States. He hitchhiked from Mexico to Alaska. He went on many journeys. He canoed from California into Mexico and Hiked along the Appilacian trail. Finally he hitchhiked to Alaska. He brought very little fod or equiptment. He did all of these things because of his self confidence. This confidence helped him have a self satisfying journey and ultimatly led to his death.

Nightjohn: 11/12/14

1- Analyze the impact word choice has on the meaning or tone of a text.
2- Analyze how dialogue or specific incidents reveal information about characters. Make sure to include textual evidence.

Pages: 1-end

Word choice in this piece helps develop the meaning of the text by helping better describe the conditions of the slaves. When Nightjohn arrives he has marks from being whipped. The author describes this by saying, " The skin across his shoulders and down was raised in ripples, thick as my hand." The word choice also helps show how little education the slaves had. The word choice in the whole story uses bad grammer to show the lack of education of the narrator. The line says, "There ain't no light allowed in the quarters." This shows the slaves had very little education.

Dialogue reveals that the main character is eager to learn. The main character says, "To read what I just put there in the dirt– can you teach me?" This shows that the main character is eager to learn. Dialogue also reveals that Nightjohn wants to improve other's lives. Dialogue between mammy and Nightjohn said, "You came back to teach reading' John nodded. 'That's half of it.' 'What's the other half?' 'Writing." This shows that Nightjohn wanted to teach people.

Specific incidents revealed that Sarny was scared of Waller. When Waller catches her writing words in the dirt she runs. The author writes, "I crawled-ran to get away. Ran to the only place I knew." This shows how scared Sarny was of Waller. Specific incidents also reveal that Nightjohn takes responsibility for his actions. When Waller is torturing another slave to find out who taught Sarny reading and writing Nightjohn confesses. He also locked himself up. The author writes, "He walked to the spring house and put the bracelets on." This shows Nightjohn would not allow other people to be punished for his actions.

Into the Wild: 11/4/14

Prompt: Summary
Pages: 1-102

This book as about a man named Chris McCandless who hitchhikes across he United States, walks into the Alaskan Wilderness, and dies. The author is a non-fiction writer who was tasked with writing a narrative about McCandless for a newspaper. He became so interested in McCandless that he decided to write a book about him. McCandless started in Atlanta, Georgia. He donated all his money left in his collage fund after collage for law school to charity and changed his name to Alexander Supertramp.

He then drove to south California and left his car under a tarp. He removed the license plates and put a note in it saying that anyone who could get it out could have it. He than took everything he might want out of the car and burned all the money he had with him. He hitchhiked to Lake Tahoe and hiked for a week on the Pacific Crest Trail. He was offered a job in northern California but stole a bike and ran away because the man never payed him.

By this point McCandless' family had become very worried. Police started a search for Chris but could not track him. He bought a canoe and paddled from California to Mexico. He was caught by border patrol while crossing back into America and lost his pistol. He buried his backpack and went into Vegas with no money or ID. When he retrieved his backpack he discovered that his camera was ruined. He stopped taking pictures and writing in his journal.

Brian's Winter 10/29/14

Prompt: List at least three problems the characters faced? Which was the most life changing? Explain

Pages: 1-end

     This book is about how Brian survived in the Canadian wilderness. In this book Brian is stuck through the winter. He had to create new tools to survive through the winter. One of the problems he faced was that the winter is very cold. He had to make a warmer shelter by improving his wall. He also stitched together animal furs to make cold weather clothing. He made a vest, coat, boots, gloves, and a rug. Finally he built a fire inside his shelter. These things kept him warm and helped solve the problem of cold.

    Another problem Brian faced was that he was threatened by large animals. He did two things to solve this problem. The first is that he built a larger bow. This was a problem on its own. He had to find the right wood for his bow but the biggest challenge was finding larger arrowheads. He figured out that he could chip pieces off of flint to make sharp arrowheads. He also made a lance for if large animals charged at him. He used this lance to save his life from a moose.

     The last problem Brian had was that it was hard to move around in deep snow. He made snowshoes to help him move around without getting stuck in the snow. He also used furs to make a back pack to carry food in. These helped him move around even better than before winter and he explored the land around his camp. The most life changing problem that Brian solved was movement. This resulted in him exploring the area around his camp much more. It ultimately lead to him finding a trapper's house that was how he was rescued.

Montresor Police Interrogation

3- Imagine that it is fifty years after Montresor's crime against Fortunato has been committed. Montresor believes that he has gotten away with this crime, but suddenly new evidence has come to light. Another festival attendant recalls seeing Fortunato leave the party with Montresor. This witness hasn't come forward until now because she was afraid of what he might do; however now that she is old, she has decided that there is nothing to gain by continuing to hide his secret.

The authorities have picked up Montresor and brought him to the local police station for questioning. Write one page dialogue that illustrates Montresor's conversation with police. 

Police: Do you know anything about the disappearance of Fortunado?
Montresor: I was with him and we were tasting wine. That was the last time I saw him. I must have lost him after we met in the excitement of the party.
Police: A festival attendant saw you walking away from the party with Fortunado. What were you doing?
Montresor: I was going to taste wine with Fortunado. We went back to the party after that.
Police: That was the last time anyone saw Fortunado. Do you know what happened to him?
Montresor: No. The last place I saw him was when he was tasting wine.
Police: Did Fortunado leave the house with you after tasting wine?
Montresor: No. Fortunado stayed behind in my house after I left for a while. A long while. He did not want to leave.
Police: Do you know if Fortunado left the house?
Montresor: No. I have not seen him since we were drinking wine.
Police: Where in the house were you drinking wine?
Montresor: We were drinking the wine in the catacombs.
Police: Where in the catacombs were you drinking specifically?
Montresor: My family's catacombs are vary large. I could not remember now. We were drinking in multiple places.
Police: Do you know if Fortunado leave the catacombs?
Montresor: No. If nobody saw him after it is possible that he got lost and died in the catacombs.
Police: Could we possibly find his body in the catacombs?
Montresor: My family's catacombs are very large and have many people buried in them. You may not be able to find him. Also his body would have decayed before now.
Police: Thank you.

Brian's Winter: 10/22/14

Prompt: Summary
Pages: 0-end

     In this book Gary Paulsen tells what might of happened if Brian was trapped in the forest through the winter. He introduces this by telling about how readers had asked what would have happened if Brian had been stuck in the winter. He then tells how the winter started from a narrator's point of view that knows Brian's thoughts. He says that Brian began to feel cold winds and feel better by a fire or in his sleeping bag but did not notice these signs. He finally realized that winter was coming when it was cold one night and his sleeping bag was a relief.

     Brian realized that he needed to prepare for the coming winter. He had no warm clothing and his shelter was not warm. He found a deer that had been killed but not fully eaten by wolves and dragged the remaining meat. First he made a bigger bow because he had been attacked by a bear and barely been saved by a skunk. Then he made his shelter watertight and warm by packing the wooden wall with mud and making a door. He also used rabbit skins to make a warm vest. He found a deer that had been killed but not fully eaten by wolves.

     He began practicing with his bigger bow and realized he could hunt larger animals with it. He killed a moose but was almost badly hurt. It took him all day and most of the night to drag the meat back to his camp. He then thought he heard gunshots but when he went to see where they came from he saw a tree explode. He then made snowshoes to move around easier in the snow. He killed a deer and decided to go explore the area around his camp. He put food in a skin pack and took a lighter and his hatchet. While he was on one of these hikes he saw tracks that looked like human footprints. He followed these to a hut and was rescued.

Time Travel Interveiw

Format: Interview
Q: Where would you go? 
A: I would go to Gettysburg, Pennsylvania
Q:To which year or period would you travel? 
A: I would go to November 19, 1863.
Q: Who would you want to meet or what event would you want to witness? 
A: I would want to witness Abraham Lincoln give the Gettysburg Address and meet him.
Q: Where would you find this person or see this event? 
A: I would see this event in Gettysburg, Pennsylvania.
Q: Why would you want to meet this person or witness this event? 
A: I want to do this because Abraham Lincoln is an important figure and this is one of his famous speeches,
Q: How might YOU change history?
I wouldn't because I could create a butterfly effect that could have bad effects.

Quarter 1 Reflective Blog

Where are you in your 40 Book Challenge? How have your blogs been progressing since August? What strategies have benefited you? What have you learned about the world? How have your research skills improved?

Make sure to include a topic sentence and supporting details that fully support your main idea.

     My blogs have progressed a lot since the beginning of first quarter. At the beginning I had trouble writing about some prompts. It took me a long time to think about what to write and it was still not very good. Later in the quarter I got better at this. A strategy that I used to write my blogs that worked best was writing a topic sentence that I remembered a important point from the book. I than came up with supporting, specific, details from the book. This helped me write better, more organized, blogs.

     I have learned a lot about the world. In this class I learned about Malala getting the Nobel Prize. We researched why she received the prize and her achievements. I also learned about Ebola. We learned about how it started and what it is and we have talked about current Ebola news. Finally I have learned that traditions are hard to change in the world. The Lottery introduced this and we had to write two paragraphs about the traditions in the story. The story of Malala reinforced this by showing that women's rights were hard to change because they were tradition.

      My research skills have greatly improved. I did not know how to make a bibliography before this year. I learned how to correctly format and collect information.

The River: 10/12/14

Pages: 1-end

     This book is a sequel to Hatchet, where Brian has to survive in the wilderness when his plane crashes. In this book the government asks Brian to go back to the wilderness and do it again. This time he will have Derek from the government coming with him to record what he does. He will teach what they learn to help people from the military who may be in a survival situation. When they arrive at the lake Brian decides to leave all the survival equipment on the plane to make the situation more realistic. During a lightning storm Derek and Brian are struck by lightning. It destroyed their radio and put Derek in a coma. On the map Brian has he can see a trading post that he can get to by going down a river. He builds a wooden raft and goes down the river for help.

     Brian's character is developed by talking about his decision to return to the woods. This shows that he wants to help people and will even risk his own life to do it. He says, "I learned something there. About how to live-I mean how to live. And if it could help others, I have to do it." The author also develops his character by telling how he reacts to arriving back in the woods. He writes, "Then, instantly—in just that part of a second—he changed. Completely." This shows how accustomed Brian has become to the forest. This develops his character by showing a unique trait about him.

     Derek, who is surviving with Brian, is developed by how he copes with the wilderness. The author writes that when it started raining really hard "Derek had time for one quick joke." This shows that Derek makes jokes when he is in a bad situation. Brian's mom is developed by telling her reaction when Derek suggests that Brian goes back to the forest. When Derek suggests it she says, "I think it's insane." She does not want Brian to go back because she does not want him to get hurt. She also says, "We were told by experts Brian couldn't possibly be alive. And now you're asking me—his mother—to send him back out there?"

Reflective Blog

     I have progressed a lot since I began writing blogs. When I began writing blogs I wrote short, unspecific paragraphs. I would only write about very nonspecific topics. This resulted in my blogs being very short and not very interesting. They almost resembled the summaries on the back cover of books. I think I wrote like this because I did not know how to write a good summary. Whenever I did a prompt other than a summary I wrote two paragraphs of summary and one based on my prompt. I think I did this because I thought I could not write more than one paragraph on a subject other than a summary.

     This is very different from my current blogs. As time went on my blogs got longer and more in detail. I think this is because I learned more about writing and learned that other people's blogs with more detail were better and more interesting. This helped me start putting more detail in my blogs and making them more interesting. Now I use better writing form. When I write an use a topic sentence and supporting details to prove it. I have greatly improved my blogging.

Messenger: 10/1/14

Prompt: Choose a section of what you have read in your book this week and analyze the writing techniques used by the author. Explain the affect the technique has on the writing. 
Pages: 1-169 (end)

     This book is about a boy named Matty who carries messages for the people of his village. He is one of the few people who has not gotten a warning from the forest that is between each village. The people of his village have traded parts of their personality to the Trademaster in exchange for things the want. This has caused them to want to close the village to outsiders. Matty wants to tell someone who lives across the forest that the village is closing and that they must come back with him to her father. The village is becoming evil and once you receive a warning you could be killed by the forest.

     One of the writing techniques the author uses to develop the theme and meaning of the story is style. She uses words with negative connotation when she is describing the forest and Trade Mart. When She is talking about the Trade Mart she tells about what a woman who used to be very kind did to her crippled husband after she traded. The author says "She made a sneering face at him and she imitated his way of walking. She made fun of him." Negative word choice helps to describe the effects of the Trade Mart. Also when the author is telling about how Leader described the forest she writes, "I was going to say like a clotting of blood. Things turning sluggish and sick." Words with negative connotation help to better describe the forest. Both of these quotes show how word choice with negative connotation develop the story. 

     A technique the author uses to develop the feeling of the story is tone. The author uses a dark tone when she is talking about the forest and Trade Mart. An example of this is when the author is writing about the Trade Mart. She writes "There was an intentness to everyone, and odd seriousness, and a sense of worry-unusual in Village-pervaded the atmosphere." This gives a dark tone to Trade Mart. This makes Trade Mart seem like a bad thing and affects the story. Another example of this is when the author is describing the forest. She writes, "Once clear and cool, the water was now dark brown, clogged with dead insects, and it smelled of kinds of filth he could only guess at." This gives the forest a dark tone and helps provide imagery.

Banned Books Vlog

Stranded 9/16/14

Prompt: Describe the characters.
Pages: 107-end

     Stranded is about four siblings who are stuck on a island. There are four main characters in this book. One is Carter. He is very energetic and always wants to be the leader of things. This is sometimes a problem because it causes disagreements in the group. Another main character is Buzz. He is not very fit or energetic but is very smart. He spends a lot of time watching TV and he has learned some things about survival from TV shows. This makes him very helpful in coming up with plans for the group.

     Another main character is Vanessa. She is the oldest of the group and is a leader. She makes sure everyone gets along and comes up with plans. The other siblings are always arguing and she keeps them under control. The last main character is Jane. She is the youngest but is also the smartest. She tells her siblings about things they do not know about and helps them come up with plans. She is the youngest and cannot do difficult physical tasks.

     One important supporting character is Uncle Dexter. He is the captain of the ship they are sailing on and tries to help the children escape. He is swept overboard and gets in a life raft that is floating away from the boat. He is the only one that knows about where they were when they crashed. The coast guard finds him and he helps in the search for the children. He also explained some things to the children that was important for their survival.

Stranded: 9/11/14

Prompt: Your focus for your blog this week will be on analyzing your novel based on it's literary style. Your focal point will be analyzing the impact imagery and figurative language have on the meaning and tone of your text.
Pages: 1-107

     Imagery has a big impact in the part of my book because it shows ship, the shipwreck and the island in more detail. Rather than saying the sail was in front of him the author said, "The boat's huge white mainsail ballooned in front of him, filled with a stiff southernly wind that sent them scudding through the South Pacific faster than they'd sailed all week." That shows the sail and the conditions in more detail and enhances the story. Later in the story rather than describing the island as a circular green island the author writes, "The whole thing was a giant ring of land, encircling an enormous lagoon of the most brilliant aqua-blue water Vanessa had ever seen." That tells the island in more detail and enhances the story.

     Imagery makes the story have a more overwhelming tone. It shows how large the sails of the boat are. It tells how dangerous and powerful the storm is. This is shown in the sentence, "Carter saw a bright flash from somewhere near the top of the mast, like an explosion of light and force. The sailboat itself twisted nearly all the way around with a violent turn." This shows the power of the storm.  Finally imagery shows the vast size of the island they are trapped on.

     "The bow of the boat looked as if it had been chewed right off." This metaphor makes the story have a scary tone. This shows how badly the ship is damaged by saying the front looked like it had been chewed off. It also compares the storm and cliff they crashed into to an animal or monster with teeth by saying it chewed off the front of the boat. This results in a negative, scary tone because both of these things have negative, scary connotations.

10 Favorite Books

1: The Kid Who Climbed Everest
This book is about how Bear Grylls climbed Mount Everest. It tells about how he broke his back while he was younger and why he decided to attempt to climb Everest. It also tells about the preparations and training needed to do this. What most of the book is about is the challenges he faced while on Everest. This is my favorite book because he talks about how he dealt with the difficulties on Everest and it talks about a subject I am interested in. I read this book last week.

2: Hatchet
This book is about a boy named Brian who was in a plane that crashed in the middle of the forest. He survives by building a shelter in a cave, drinking lake water, and eating berries at first. He then begins to fish and hunt birds and eventually kills a moose. He then finds a radio transmitter in the crashed plane and accidentally left it on. Because of this a plane finds him. This is my second favorite book because I like this topic and it shows what might happen if an unexperienced person were lost in the woods. I first read this book in fifth grade.

3: Holes
This book is about a boy named Stanley Yelnats who is sent to a work camp for doing something he did not do. While at this camp he meets the boy who actually committed the crime he was sent there for. They escape the camp together and live on a mountain until law officials come and take them out of the camp. This is my third favorite book ever because of how the three different stories being told all fit together. I read this book first in fifth grade.

4 The President Has Been Shot
This book describes the the details of the assassination of President Kennedy. It tells about the life of the murderer and possible motives. It tells where the murder took place and how things were set up. It tells about how the murder happened and how it could have been prevented. It then tells about how the murder was caught and how people reacted. I liked this book because I learned something I didn't know before and it was very interesting. I read this book in seventh grade.

5 Ripper
This book is a mystery fiction book about if the murderer Jack the Ripper went to America and murdered people. The main character is an orphan and is adopted by Pinkerton Detectives. He works with them and discovers that Jack the Ripper is his father. He discovers who he is going to murder next and protects them. He fights his father and traps him but he escapes. I liked this book because of how everything connects and makes sense at the end. Also when I thought it was almost finished I looked and was only halfway through. I read this book in seventh grade.

6 The Giver
This book is about a community where everything is regulated carefully. Everyone has no knowledge of the past before their community. The community has no books other than rule books and dictionaries, no dangerous or progress slowing items or geographical formations, and no color vision. When people get old they do not die but are released. This is when doctors give them lethal injections. No one except the doctors and elders know about this. I like this book because of the morals it talks about. I read this book in seventh grade.

7 Son
This book is a sequel to The Giver. It talks about the community from a different point of view and talks about different communities there also are and what they are like. The main character left the community to look for her son who was taken. She finds other communities and eventually finds her son. I liked this book because it was inspirational and thought invoking. I read this book in seventh grade.

8 Old Yeller
This book is about a dog that a family adopts. The story is about the family's hardships and how the dog helps them out. At the end of the book the dog gets very sick. By then the whole family has become very attached to the dog. The father has to kill the dog and it is very sad. I like this story because it was inspirational and interesting. I read this book in fifth grade.

9 Of Mice and Men
This book is about two men who are migrant workers. They go to work at a farm. One of the workers is not very smart and always gets in trouble. He likes to touch soft things. He is very strong and often hurts or kills small furry animals. He was feeling someone's hair and he accidentally killed them. The other man is forced to shoot him. I liked this book because it was thought invoking and interesting. I read this book in seventh grade.

10 The Right Fight
This book is about a man who is a tank driver in WWII. He is fighting in North Africa and fights in many battles. He has many good and bad experiences and makes new friends. At the end of the book the tank he is in explodes and he is the only one of his crew to survive. I like this book because I am interested in WWII and liked learning what it might have been like as a soldier. I read this book in seventh grade.

The Sea of Monsters: 8/11/14

Prompt: Summarize what you read
Pages: 108-end

    In this part of the book Percy, Annabeth and Tyson are trying to save Grover. They sneak onto a boat that Hermes says is going to the Sea of Monsters. Tyson says he can smell monsters on the boat. Luke catches them. He tells them he is bringing Kronos back to life by Half-Bloods joining him.They then escape and go to a Half-Blood hideout.

   While they are at the hideout they are attacked by monsters. They are saved by another Half-Blood and go to the Sea of Monsters. Their boat gets destroyed while they are entering the Sea of Monsters and Tyson goes missing. They travel through the Sea of Monsters looking for Grover. At one place Percy gets turned into a Guinea Pig but is rescued by Annabeth.

     They find the island but the Cyclops that had Grover trapped found out that Grover was a Satyr, one of his favorite foods. He is about to eat him when Grover suggests that he cooks him with some fruit. This gives Percy and Annabeth time to come up with a plan to rescue him. After they are rescued and are going back to camp they are captured by Luke. They are rescued by their camp directer and his cousins, centaurs.

The Sea of Monsters: 8/3/14

Pages: 1-107
Prompt: Describe the characters

     The main character is Percy Jackson. He is a half god (son of Poseidon), half human which is called a half-blood or demigod. He can heal and strengthen himself by touching water, can control water and can breath underwater. He lives at Camp Half Blood where he trains and is safe from monsters. He discovers that he has a half brother named Tyson at the beginning of the book.

     Another main character is Annabeth. She is a half-blood, the daughter of Athena. This makes her very smart and great a war strategy. She has lived at Camp Half Blood for longer then Percy and led Percy through his first days at camp in The Lightning Thief. Percy discovers that for an unknown reason she hates cyclops.

     One other main character is Tyson. He is a cyclops and a son of Poseidon. A cyclops is a monster with only one eye. This causes him to be bullied often and embarrasses Percy. A final main character is Grover. He is a satyr which is a half goat half human. He is trapped by a cyclops who love to eat satyrs but thinks he is a lady cyclops.

The President Has Been Shot: 7/28/14

Pages: 78-end
Prompt: Summarize what you read

     The second half of the book talks about the assassination of John F. Kennedy. It tells how Lee Oswald set up for the assassination. Oswald disassembled his weapon and put it in a brown paper bag. He chose a window on he sixth floor all the way to the left because of the view of the road where Kennedy would be driving. Oswald then set up during his lunch break.

     Then the author writes about the assassination. Oswald fired three shots but only the second and third hit Kennedy. This was all caught on film by Abraham Zapruder. The president was then rushed to a hospital where he was pronounced dead. Oswald attempted to escape, shot a police officer an fled to a movie theater. At 1:50 he was arrested in the movie theater.

     After Kennedy was pronounced dead Lyndon Johnson was sworn in as president. He wanted to have his wife and Jackie Kennedy by his side as he did it to show that the nation would continue. Oswald was shot and died without confessing to shooting the president. Johnson made a committee to investigate the murder. They found fingerprints on the weapons and markings on the bullets fired that proved that Oswald murdered Kennedy and a police officer.

The President has Been Shot: 7/11/14

Pages: 1-77
Prompt: Summarize what you just read.

     This book is about the assassination of John F. Kennedy. The first part of the book tells about Kennedy's life. It tells that he was the youngest person ever elected president of the United States. It also tells about his experiences in WWII. He commanded a PT boat, which was a small boat designed to come close to large enemy boats and fire torpedoes at them. On August 2, 1943 he narrowly escaped death.

     He was in his boat at 2:30 in the morning when an enemy boat chopped his boat in half. Two of his twelve crewmen were killed and others including Kennedy were wounded. They swam to a deserted island and tried to signal passing boats. They swam to a near by island and found friendly natives. They wrote a message on a coconut shell and the natives carried it to the rest of the military. Kennedy kept the coconut shell as a souvenir of the wartime experiences.

     After the war Kennedy ran for the House of Representatives. He was reelected two times then was elected to senate. He then ran for president. He was younger then the other democrats running but he was nominated for the democrats over them. He started out behind Nixon but caught up through television debates. He won the election by 119,450 votes out of 68.3 million votes. Then you learn about the things Kennedy did while he was president.

Brian's Return: 5/13/14

Pages: 0-59
Prompt: Summarize what you just read.

     The first chapter is an intro to the rest of the book. It introduces what the rest of the book will be about even though it takes place in the later in time than the beginning of the book. It takes place in the forest and tells about why the main character, Brian, was in the wilderness, because the wilderness had become a part of him. He then tells why he did not like the city. He says how boring and frustrating their pointless activities are. He found sports and video games to be silly and pointless and how "extreme" outdoor sports were just games. He talks about how he is not interested by the things everyone is always talking about and he just pretends to listen to his friends.

     He then tells about the event that pushed him to his limit. He was walking into a pizza place with two friends, one was a girl, Susan, who had invited him to get pizza and talk (the other boy just assumed the invitation included him). As he walked in a boy from school, Carl, was walking out. He was a football player and was jealous of Brian's popularity. He had also asked Susan out on a date and she refused. This made him very mad at Brian. He tried to hit the door into Brian but missed, hitting Brian's friends. He than punched Brian. This caused the survival instincts Brian had gotten in the wild to react. He attacked Carl with the heels of his palms rather than his fists, striking quickly.

     Brian would not stop hitting Carl because of his instincts and beat him to the ground. Eventually he was pulled off of Carl and the police came. Carl was sent to the hospital because he had severe bruising on his face, stomach, and ribs and he stayed there overnight. Police recommended that Brian go to a counselor named Caleb. It takes Brian about 20 seconds to realize he is blind. Caleb asks him a questing and Brain starts nodding. Caleb repeats the the question because he cannot see him and Brian realizes he is blind. Almost immediately Caleb asks for Brian to describe a scene in the wild to him. These discussions lead to Brian realizing he needs to return to the wild (that's where the title comes from.) I ended reading where Brian had just arrived in the wild.

40 Book Challenge Reflection

     This year I read 24 books for my 40 book challenge. Although this was only just over half of the 40 I think it introduced me to more types of books. I read all four poetry books when I would normally read none. I also read both of the mystery books. I would normally not have read these types of books.
Now that I have read these types of books I am more interested in them. An example of this is the mystery genre. I got Ripper from the book fair because it looked cool and I was interested in history. I liked it so much that the next two books I read were also mystery, The Hardy Boys, 1 and 2.

     Another thing that the 40 book challenge made me do was at the end of the year to look back at all the books I had read. This made me think about why I read these books in the first place. As I thought about this I realized all the messages all the books had taught me and will remember these messages better then if I had just read the books on my own. I think that my 40 book challenge was a success although I did not read close to 40 books because it introduced me to new books and I learned many new messages from these books.

My favorite book

The Lightning Thief: 5/7/14

Pages: 1-74 (summary: 1-15)

Prompt: Summarize what you just read.

     At the beginning of the book Percy is going on a field trip with his school, Yancy Academy. They are going to a museum to learn about Greek Mythology with his teachers, Mr. Brunner and Mrs. Dodds. On the bus a girl named Nancy Bobofit was pelting Percy's best friend, Grover, with pieces of sandwich. When he wants to stop her he can't because he is on prohibition. He tells how every year and on field trips something weird happens and he is expelled. He tells about how in fifth grade he shot a school bus with a cannon and he dropped his whole class into the Marine World shark pool. Then the whole class is looking at a statue and Nancy says something about the statue being naked and Percy yells at her to "shut up".

     Then Percy's teacher, Mr. Brunner, asks Percy what a picture on the statue is about. He knows and tells Mr. Brunner that it is about Kronos eating his kids the Greek gods. After Percy answers that question Mr. Brunner asks him how it applies to real life and Percy doesn't know. After everyone leaves for lunch Mr. Brunner tells Percy that he must learn how it applies to real life. Percy says he wants to get angry because of how hard Mr. Brunner pushes him. He than says that Mr. Brunner looks at the statue for a long time, like he was at the girls funeral. When Percy goes out side he notices a large storm outside which almost never happens.

     This is when Nancy gets bored of stealing from other visitors and "accidentally" dumps her lunch onto Grover's lap. Percy is so mad that his mind goes blank and a "wave roared" in his head. The next thing he remembers is Nancy sitting in the fountain yelling, "Percy pushed me!" Mrs. Dodds immediately is next to Percy and everyone is whispering, "Did you see-" "-the water-" "-like it grabbed her-". Mrs Dodds says "Now honey-" and Percy says that he knows that he will spend a month erasing workbooks. This makes Mrs. Dodds very angry and she leads Percy inside. She then threatens Percy and turns into a evil hag. This is when Mr. Brunner comes to the rescue and throws Percy a magical pen that turns into a sword. Percy kills Mrs. Dodds and he room becomes empty. When he goes back to the rest of the group everyone denies that there was a Mrs. Dodds ever at the school.

The Right Fight: 4/30/14

Pages: 41-150
Prompt: Does the title fit the story? Why or why not?

     Pages 41 to the end are all about Roman's experience in the army. He describes what boot camp was like first. He tells about the battle simulations he did where it was just like a real battle but there was no shooting. There were loud noises like guns and artillery and Roman was driving a real tank. To "kill" somebody you had to surround them. Even Roman's least favorite people, umpires, told you when you had been "killed" (Roman is a baseball player). This was all to prepare the soldiers for when they would go to war.

     When Roman finally goes to the battle he is sent to help drive the Axis out of Africa. Even though Roman was in the battle simulations he was scared when his ship started being bombarded. He felt helpless and small. When his boat landed they were attacked by French troops in old tanks. This mad Roman mad because he thought the French were his allies. As they moved further inland they begin encountering Stuka. These are planes that make screaming sounds as they fly. They then take a airfield that is virtually unguarded.

     The title does not fit the story. It does not tell what the "right fight" is and talks very little about the righteousness of the war. If anything what the book describes is the wrong fight. Roman kills an enemy by not shooting him once or twice, but three times in the head. He did this because when the enemy flew at his tank he got scared and looked away. This made him frustrated and he wanted revenge. The only thing that the author may be referring to is that at the beginning of the book Roman gets into a fight at a baseball game. The author may be saying that fighting in the war is a more "right" fight than a baseball fight.