The Blind Side

I'm at the very end of the book The Blind Side, and let me tell you, it's a good book. Because I saw the movie, I really wanted to read the book. At first I didn't know where to get the book, but then it just showed up in my room and, boom, I started reading.

This book is about a teen named Michael Oher, sometimes called ''Big Mike''. He was picked up by a rich family one night, and got taught to play football and turned into a huge and tough offensive guard.

When I read this book, I thought about how hard it would be to go through what Michael went through. For example he was raised in a really bad and rough neighborhood and his dad left so he never saw him. If I had to go through that I would be different then how I am now. Without my dad, I wouldn't know the sports that I know today. I was also thinking about how nice the family was to pick up Michael and teach him how to play football. This book made me think a lot and that's why I like it. I love this book, and I cant wait to read the end.

Flush

Right now, I have recently started the book Flush, by Carl Hiaasen, which I have also read Hoot from this author. The thing that surprised me about this book is that it was not all fun and games, a bit like how the title sounded. To me, I can't make many connections about the book so far, but in any book, I have to have at least a few.


The main character, Noah, is very serious about saving a certain family member in this book, as I would be if my family member was in the same position as Noah's. Like Noah, I also have trouble getting my parents to get along better. Except in this particular story, Noah's parents don't get along for different reasons then mine. Although, generally the same.


How old Noah is, I don't know, but things he's doing seems about right for my age at the time, ten. Now Noah also has a sister as I do, but I feel that the connection between Noah and his sister, is more alike between my brother and I. In the book, the author describes Noah's sister as younger then him, but she seems very mature for her age, almost as if she is older.


I infer that Noah's dad really did do something terrible, but for now I think the author is trying to make the dad sound harmless, increasing the excitement in the story. I look forward to see if my inference is right, and to know what happens next in the story.

Hunger Games

The Hunger Games is the most action packed book I have read in my life. After reading it for the second time I got more details out of it and understood it better. I can't wait until fall, that is when the third book comes out. Until then I will read the first and second books.


If your parents read this book they wouldsay its just a little too grusome. Bt it still is very well written and is just right reading for me, and probably just right reading for many fifth and sixth graders.


This book is 100% action packed, and I am not over exagerating. If I were Katniss I think I would do the same to Protect my sibling and take their plae in the hunger games. Also if I were in the hunger games I would just hide through it until it was over. it would be the scariest tihng in the world to be in the hunger games.


The Hunger Games was a very good book and was the best I have read ever, so if you ever think about reasding follow your thinking.

Boy: Tales of Childhood

Boy: Tales of Childhood was a very good book, but I won't go into details. This book is an autobiography of Roald Dahl, and how he got all of his ideas; from his own life! Now, I realize that Roald Dahl had a difficult life. He almost got his nose ripped off in a car accident, got the cane at every school he went to, and got envolved in "The Great Mouse Plot of 1924."

When I was reading this book, I was thinking over and over and over again the same general thought: "Man, were people cruel!" I was also thinking "ewww! and "gross!" and "ouch!"

This is a very gross book, but, on the contrary, it is good. I hope all you Roald Dahl fans enjoy this one.

Al Capone Does My Shirts

Just reading the first few pages of this book tells me I am going to love it. It seems like its going to have a lot of action and definitely a lot of humor. Most of all I think were going to learn something about our history of criminals and Alcatraz. Maybe that's why we do book clubs. In this book you only have to read the first few pages to know the main character. Our main character is Moose or Mathew. Ideas for the scrapbook already are popping into my head.

The Tiger Rising

I am reading The Tiger Rising by Kate DiCammilo. I have only read about 10 pages so fare and it's been a really sad book so fare. As soon as I heard that Rob's (the main character's) mom died. On the bus every day he would get bullied by two kids but the worst thing about it is that they would hurt him and he would just sit there not fight back but just let them hurt him.

I'm really thinking this book is going to be really good. So far this kid has a lot of different problems in his life and there all pulling him not letting him go. These little details in the story have really kept me on my tows without them this book would be wiry not have a plot or a meaning.

AL CAPONE DOES MY SHIRTS

I have just started reading the book called Al Capone Does my Shirts by Gennifer Choldenko. I have figured out that the main character is Moose and he has a sister named Natalie and they have a mom and a dad and they all live on Alcatraz. Moose is still freaked out that there is criminals like Al Capone and Machine gun Kelly. Moose is also very sad that he cant see his dad most of the week because he is a guard and he is a mechanic for the prison. I am predicting that he will get in trouble trying to sneak into the guard tower because Moose asked his dad if he could show Moose the guard tower but his dad said that he is not allowed to let kids up their.

I think I have connections to Moose because he wants to go up to the guard tower but he is not allowed to. I have really wanted to go to a roller coaster park but my parents said "it's a family day today." I also think that Moose will be wondering around were he is not allowed to be and he is going to run into some criminals including Al Capone and Machine Gun Kelly and they are going tostart picking on Moose. I just suspect that because of the title.

Fly Girl

I just started reading Fly Girl and I really like it so far!

Fly Girl is about a teenage girl named Ida Mae Jones. She is an African American who wants to be a pilot. This is a book that takes place in 1945, so not many women were allowed to be pilots especially African American women. This book is basically about the struggles she goes through to chase her dreams. I like how the author put a message in this story. In this book the message is you have to keep fighting to chase your dreams and have them come true. You also have to follow your heart! The message is one thing that I really like about his book.

Another thing I really like about this book is that it takes place in the 1940's and I don't know why but I really like reading about a time other than right now because I think it's very interesting to see how my life and my lifestyle is very different and similar to people who lived a while ago. For example, most women a while ago were treated a bit different then men were treated, like in the book Ida Mae wants to be a pilot. It was very rare that women got to be pilots and get there license especially African Americans like Ida Mae. Now a days both men and women are treated equally.

Also, back then African Americans were not treated the same as white people. For example, in the book Ida Mae and her friend went to a wedding. Ida Mae's skin is very light compared to a lot of other African Americans so she gets treated just like a white person, however her friend who has really dark skin has to sit in back of the service because people thought she would be farther away from God because she doesn't deserve to be close to God. One last example, is that the white people at the wedding took a brown paper bag and held it up to the African American person's face and if their skin was darker than the paper bag, they had to sit in the back of the church because the white people thought they weren't worthy of being in God's presence.

I really enjoy reading this book and I can't wait to read more, and find out what happens next!

Hunger Games

When this assignment popped up, I had Inkheart as a book to read although I have already read it a couple times. Then Maggie told me about Hunger Games, she wasn't the only one who recommended it to me, but she gave me her copy to read.

Right after reading the first page I was already thinking about what to wright, then Maggie told me that because I only read the first page that I should base my post on my ideas from the cover,back,inner flap, and the first page. I only have a handful to say about the cover like, what does the bird mean? But, I figure that one out *cough*PATRICK.

I still have a lot to learn about this book, and a lot of it I will enjoy. This book is very

good and I love it so much and I hope you do too.

Al Capone does my shirts

The book I am currently reading is Al Capone does my Shirts by Gennifer Choldenko.

The book is about a boy named Moose and his mental sister, Natalie. They live in a very bad town called Alcatraz. Well we all know where that is. This book takes place in the 1930's so that is when the jail was open. Moose's dad is the jail guard and the electrician. Moose has a hard life because who on planet Earth would want to live on an Island with deadly criminals on it! Well, would if Al Capone cleaned your shirts? This was not like in the movies thank goodness because you never want anyone slipping out of their jail cell; no sir.

I think this book is very interesting because I love books that take place in a different time. You just get to know what it was like when there were people in jail. The book is written what Moose is thinking and what others are saying. I really enjoy books that are written what the main character is thinking. I am learning a lot about Moose's manners; why, well he has to speak in a very polite voice to his dad's boss. Such as, Yes sir, No sir. It is funny because the boss's daughter calls him sir too. Well I definitely recommend this as a good book.

The Giver

This week I am reading The Giver, by Lois Lowry. Although I have already read more than half of this book, I am ambivalent whether I like it, or not. There are reasons I like it, and reasons I don't. I have even re-read many parts of it to to help me decide what is enjoyable or not, but I am still indecisive.

The reasons I like the book are because Lois Lowry does a great job describing all the scenes and the character development is great. Her use of descriptive adjectives really paints a picture in my head. "Tiny, cold, featherlike feelings peppered his body and face". Instead of just telling us about the sensation of snowflakes on the skin, Lois tries to help us imagine what it would be like for someone who has never experienced snow. For me, the best books are all about the characters. In the beginning of The Giver, a baby boy, Gabe, was brought into Jonas's family unit. Jonas, the main character, did not really care for all that much for this new baby boy. At first, this story may seem pretty normal because many kids are uncertain when a new baby sibling comes into their household. But we realize that this is not a normal family unit and Jonas's life is very different than most kids. This difference is what makes the story and characters interesting to follow.

One reasons why I did not enjoy the book is because the plot is hard to follow. So far, I am on page 121, and I am still waiting for something interesting to happen. It seems like the plot just describes Jonas's memories, but the recollections are random and scattered. They don't seem to connect in a logical way. His world is so different and disjointed that it makes the book confusing. I am not sure if it is just me, but after about 80 pages, I had to start reading the book from the beginning again because I was getting lost.

Overall, I really cannot decide if I like this book or not, so far. If someone else chooses to read this book, I would like to hear their input, and maybe they can help me understand the book a little bit better. When I finish the book, I hope that many of my unanswered questions will be explained and, hopefully I will know how I feel about it.

How To Survive Middle School

How To Survive Middle School is a great book written by Donna Gephart. The book is about a middle school kid named David Greenberg who suddenly finds he has a lot of problems in his life. The main thing that happens to him is that his best fiend Elliot goes girl-crazy. All Elliot wants to do is hang out at the mall and look at and talk about girls. Poor David.

I really admire David though. I admire him because he is brave and strong. At one point in the story, Elliot deserts David completely. David is sad, but keeps on going. His daily life isn't the same without his best friend (even if all he talks about is girls) and he manages to keep it together even though he feels like his heart is encased in stone. If I were David, I don't know what I would do in that situation. I think it took a lot of guts to not show everyone how lousy he felt. Luckily, in the end, all that strength pays off.

Even though this book was really funny in a lot of parts, I'm hoping a lot of thing the things that happen in the book don't really happen to all middle school kids.

The Secret Order of The Gumm Street Girls

The Secret Order of The Gumm Street Girls, by Elise Primavera is a pretty good book so far. I like the part in the beginning where it said something like, '' You might think that these four girls, all the same age , on the same street, are BFF's and their always ''there'' for one another. But you are wrong.'' When I kept reading I noticed the it was true, I was wrong. All the girls hate each other and they have very few things in common. I think Its a good way to start the story.

There is a part of me that is thinking that this book is realistic fiction, but then comes the blank and the blank. I wish I could tell the part that makes me think it's a mystery, but I'll just say that there is a girl that kind of has a spell on her. So, I'm pretty sure that the story is a mystery.

Even though I'm not half way through the book I think it is great.

Fire Bringer

Fire Bringer, a book by David Clement-Davie, is a book about a fawn named Ronnoch with the mark of an oak leaf upon his brow. It is a wonderful story full of tragedy. Though it is confusing at times because of their use of animal tongues (language), it’s still exceptionally good. While I was reading this book, I began to forget it was about deer. Also, while reading this, I beginning to feel as if I was there. This is a good book for any who like animals.

Eldest

I am reading Eldest, the second book in the Inheritance series. This book has been very interesting, some parts I really love, and can't wait to keep reading, and other parts, I am not that interested in.

I love the parts of the book about Eragon, when he's in training, learning new things, it's very interesting, though some of the decisions he makes seem unwise to me, and I don't like reading them because I know he's making the wrong decision. One time he really liked this elf, her name is Ayra,(AR-ee-uh) and she is the Queen's daughter, and she came to see how his training was going. Eragon was learning how to make a picture on a slab of stone with magic, and because of his feelings toward Arya, he made the picture of Arya. When he uttered the spell to take the picture of her from his mind, the picture on the slab was a beautiful view of Arya in a blazing back round that made her pop out and look very special. Now when I read this, I was loosing it! Why would he do that? Why would he show his feeling towards her, I mean by what the author says when they're talking, Arya definitely does not have the same feelings for Eragon! Besides, Arya is very sensitive, and when she saw his vision of her, she threw a fit. She took the stone, and smashed it on the ground, then ran away from Eragon and avoided him for a while. Eragon was silly to show his emotions like that, and it was hard for me to read that, and believe it.

Other parts of this book are about Roran, and his adventures. Roran is Eragon's cousin, and he lives in Eragon's old town. The town suddenly gets in a horrible fight with some soldiers from the king, that are looking to capture Roran because Eragon is a Dragon Rider. Roran and most of the town are tired of fighting off the soldiers, and loosing so many loved ones, that they leave their town and start heading towards the Varden who can hopefully help them and protect them from the King. The Varden are a group of people, dwarves, and elves who hate the King and his men, and fight him, and protect each other. If Roran and his friends make it to the Varden, and are excepted, they will be protected from the empire. Along the way, they have some trouble, and decide to take a boat down the coast to get away from the mountains and rough land. They manage to get a ship worker to take them, but the man thinks they're transporting livestock down the coast, so when he leaves the town and goes a little down the coast and finds a little village that he is to transport, he is quite shocked. I had a difficult time reading this part too, because they lied to the man, and now they could get this innocent guy in trouble, because the soldiers are after them. I had an even harder time reading about how the village was planning to ditch the poor guy, and after the ship ride just run away without paying the full price! That is not fair and I was not pleased to see that the settlers were in such a panic they didn't care if they were cheating this guy.

This book is great, I am really liking it! But, there are some places that I find hard to read because I wouldn't make that decision and I don't think it's right. This is a fantastic read though!

Bird Lake Moon

I'm reading Bird Lake Moon by Kevin Henkes. He is one of my favorite author's because two of my favorite books are by him so I'm glad to be reading another. Bird Lake Moon is about a boy named Mitch who lives with his mom and grandparents in a house on Bird Lake. This book has a character change after each chapter so the other character is Spencer. Spencer with his family, came to visit Bird Lake during the summer. The mom is scared to go there because that's were her older sun drowned in Bird Lake when he was little. Spencer and his family stay in the house right next door to Mitch. At first they are not getting along so well and you'll have to see if they become friends or not. I have not gotten that far in the book to find out though.

I really like this book so far. At times its a little confusing because they switch off between Mitch and Spencer, but otherwise its a fun book to read. Usually I don't really like reading that much but this is actually a really good book. One thing I really like about Kevin Henkes is that he always writes books that want me to keep reading. I loved Olives Ocean and Protecting Marie. Those we also really great books that wanted me to keep reading. I like the way he makes his books interesting and not boring so you will quit the book.

So far this book is happy and sad. Sad because Mitch's dad left there family and went to another woman's house. It was also sad because Spencer's older brother is dead and died at the lake they swim at every day. But it is also a happy book because They get to go to the lake every day, have someone almost your age staying next door, and getting to live with your grandparents to keep you company. For some reason this book makes me happy when I start to read it. Maybe because both of the boys had a hard time in life and got though it or just having sad moments turn in to happy ones, I don't really know.

I'm really enjoying this book so far and I hope to enjoy it some more as a read on. I cant wait to finish this book!

The Bartimaeus Trilogy, Ptolemy's Gate

The Bartimaeus Trilogy, is based on demons. Magicians in the series conduct rituals to summon demons from, "The Other Place" and to do thieir master's bidding. The book takes place where America is becoming known, and the city of England, is having some problems. Rebels are coming to fight from America, people are turning against the prime minister, everything has gone wrong. While all this is happening, a great wizard is about to realize his talent. A small kid is taken away from his parents to serve his master until he is of age. This is how it always is. When he is twelve years old, he changes his name, to keep his real name secret from any demons, because if a demon found his real name, the it could do horrible things to him, things you could not even imagine. But, before he turn twelve, he thinks he can conduct a summoning on his own. So, without telling his master, he summons a demon, and the demon learns his real name, but he will be frozen for ever because of a spell the kid learned, if he tells it to anyone. So they have a kind of truce. And so the book goes on, and I think It is a very interesting story, because if follows the lives of three people, one chapter could be about one person, the next, about another person. It is a good story, and series to read. The plot is always good, they are long books, the details are great, but not so much that you have to drag on to that next page just reading about the fly that he saw. This books are great page turners. Anyway, just don't forget about them, I know I can't.

The Baseball Codes, the Unwritten Rules of Baseball

I am reading The Baseball Codes, the Unwritten Rules of Baseball, by Jason Turbow with Michael Duca. This book is fantastic in my opinion, I think meant for grownups with the more sophisticated language. But I understand it and it's great. The book is about well, the unwritten rules of baseball, which are rules that all the players know about, but the rules are not written in some book (except for this one).

An example, well, one of my favorite examples is when a pitcher is going for a no hitter (when a pitcher does not give up one hit in an entire game, this is good for the pitcher) and then there are two outs in the bottom of the ninth inning and the next batter comes up and thinks, "Oh, I'll give him this no hitter". So he takes the first two pitches for strikes, then is going to get out to be soft for the pitcher, when a ball comes screaming at his head. He falls to the ground, and barely avoids it. (I really, really love how much and how often pitchers express themselves by trying to hit the batter with some blazing fastball) The next pitch, however, the hitter knocks the ball over the left field fence to break up the no-hitter. After the game the hitter said, "I was going to give it to him, I really was, until he tried to hit me in the head". This example was funny for me because really, the hitter was just going to go soft, but then a attempted beanball made his thoughts go askew, and then he was mad.

I didn't know that behind those baseball caps, there is something else going on in pro baseball player's heads. And that is the unwritten rules in baseball. Many people in the MLB get furious at some dekes, as they call them. These are just some plays the players do to trick out other players to help their team do better. If I were that player who deked another player out, I'd be kind of scared, because the next time I came to the plate, the pitcher would be hunting for my head. About headhunters, when a baserunner gets bullied or deked, he then tells the pitcher, and the pitcher knocks him off his feet, and goes for a head shot. That's what is so interesting, baseball is so nasty between the players and that's what makes this book the best baseball book ever!