Blog #10

I am reading a book called Change-Up, by John Feinstein. Two kid reporters, Stevie Thomas and Susan Carol Andersonare two kid reporters reporting at the World Series (Nationals v. Red Sox). Pitcher for the Nationals, Norbert Doyle, who is 39 (very old for baseball), is a nice guy, has two kids (wife died), has been traded around alot, been all throughout the minors, has finally gotten a chance. Originally he was not expected to make the playoff roster but a couple of the Nationals pitchers got injured. He pitches Game 2 and throws 8+ innings givving up one hit and no runs. Apparently he still isn't happy. I am going to continue reading to find out what happens after I finish my blog.
This is a good book because things that are so unexpected happen. For example, when the catcher, who is closest to Doyle, says "Joy isn't his thing", Stevie decides to investigate. Another example is that Susan Carol finds out what is going on, but she won't tell Stevie. This is unexpected because Stevie and Susan are friends, and usually don't keep things from each other.
So far, this is a very good book full of mystery so far, and I would recommend reading it, so far. p.s. I also commented on Noah Fluaharty's blog.

Blog 9

I recently read a book called The Lightning Thief by Rick Riordan. Percy Jackson is the son of Poseidon (a demigod) who leaves his normal (or not so normal) life in the real worl to go to a demigod (is the son or daughter of a Greek god) camp. Unfortunately he is framed for stealing something from Zeus and has to go on a quest. He has ten days to find Zeus' lightning bolt and return it to him along side his new friends, Grover and Annabeth. Percy catches the real thief Ares (god of war), returns the bolt to Zeus, comes to terms with his father, and solves the Oracles prophecy.
I like how well the author used and described the Greek gods just as they were when the Greeks made them. For example he had the three original sons of Kronos, Zeus, Hades, and Poseidon correct (and the story about Kronos eating them right too). Another example is Ares, the god of war, steals the lightning bolt to frame Poseidon and his son for it, to start a war between Zeus and Poseidon.
This is a great book if you like adventure and comedy. p.s. I commented on Blake M.'s blog.

Blog 8 Cover-up

I recently read a book called Cover-up, by John Feinstein. Two kid reporters Steve Thomas and Susan Carol will be going to the Superbowl to report. They know something that 95 million fans don't, the offensive line of the California Dreams has failed their doping tests (HGH). Their owner is covering up the test results until Superbowl week is over. Eddie, the quarterback for the Dreams befriends Steve and Susan. They expose the owner and offensive line but the Dreams win the Superbowl.
I like how in this book you don't know what will happen next. For example I had know idea that I had no idea that Stevie would be fired from his reporting job in the beginning, Another example is that I didn't know that Stevie and Susan would befriend Eddie. I recomend this book for anyone who likes sports and adventure. p.s. I commented on Noah Fluharty's blog.

Blog # 6

I recently read a book called "The Boy in the Striped Pajamas," by John Boyne. It was a very good book, but you do not want to read it unless you want to become seriously depressed (I did become seriously depressed by reading this book). This book is about a boy named Bruno who father is a high-ranked Nazi during World War 2. Bruno's family moves to a prison camp so that his father can oversee the camp. Bruno is exploring and he goes to the boundaries of the camp. There he meets his best friend Shmuel. Bruno sneaks out to see Shmuel every day. One day Bruno sneaks over into the camp to help Shmuel find his father. The get led to the gas chambers and die. Brunos sister and mother moved away and his father went insane and felt he had no reason to live.
As I told you, this is a depressing book. Although it was depressing, I believe the author did a good job mixing historical events. I believe he did that by mixing a war into a fictional book. He also did that by incorperating the prison camps in it.
I believe the author did a good job with Bruno's feelings. Bruno's feelings were the lot a same of a real nine year-old boy. For example, when Bruno moves away he misses his friends. The author also did a great job expressing Bruno's bordeness with his new house. I recomend this book to anyone who wants to be depressed.
p.s. I commented on Blake M.'s blog.

Post #5: The Looking Glass Wars

In The Looking Glass Wars by Frank Beddor, Wonderland is real and Alyss Heart is heir to the throne. Her evil aunt, Redd, kills her parents, claims the throne, and Alyss barely escapes to our world. Alyss eventually comes back to Wonderland defeats Redd and claims the throne. Although Redd lives and escaped. I think they had Redd escape because this book is in a series and the series would be very boring without a villan. Oh yeah I forgot. Spoiler Alert. That's probably no help know though.
If anyone has seen the Disney movie Alice in Wonderland (which my baby sister wanted to watch 5 times in a row) you will see the similarities between this book and the original story. One example of similarities is the place in the story is still called Wonderland. An example of a difference in the story is Alyss has a best friend named Dodge.
In this book, Alyss tells her story to an author who doesn't believe her. He writes what we know today to be Alice in Wonderland. A lot of the characters are the same except darker. The Mad Hatter for example becomes Hatter Madigan, Alyss' bodyguard. Another example is Alice's cat becomes Redds top assassin. This book is a great book for anyone who like adventure.
p.s. I commented on Sebastian Torero's blog.

Post #4 (#5 for most people) Crossing The Wire

I recently finished a book called Crossing The Wire by Will Hobbs. This book is about a boy named Victor Flores who lives in Mexico. Victor's family is starving and their crops are failing, so Victor tries to illegally sneak into the United States to earn money to send back to his family. This story shows the bravery of a boy who even when he runs into a barrier he keeps on trying.
Victor is extremely determined. I know this because even when officials catch Victor and ship him back to Mexico he tries to cross the barrier again. I also know that he is determined bacause at the beginning of the story, he is not the bravest guy. But he knows that he has to go out on his own to raise money for his family. It takes a lot of determination to face your fears.
I believe the author did a great job mixing current events with fiction. For example, in the U.S. Mexicans sneaking across the border has been very recognized and important for the U.S. and its government. He uses this event to make a fictional story. He also did a great job mixing real with fiction because he included a lot of real ways that Mexicans crossed the border (some are pay coyote money to smugglers, sneaking onto trains, and going through tunnels when it rains).
ps. I commented on Ryan B.'s blog.

1,001 ReasonsTo Love Baseball

1,001 Reasons To Love Baseball is a book that reasons to love basball. It will give you stats, historical players fields, and many more other reasons to love baseball. I believe that the authors, Danny Peary and Mary Tiegreen did a great job combining the stats and the love of the game in this book.
For example, there is a page on how great Cal Ripken Jr. was, but on the next page there are baseball phrases (like "Sliding under the tag"). The authors did a great job mixing it up a bit. I didn't know what was coming next.
They also show a wide variety of great baseball books and movies that you should go and see. The book also has many famous baseball quotes. For example "The pitcher has got only one ball. I've got a bat,"- Hank Aaron. They also have a list of cool nicknames, different pitches, baseball songs, and much more. This book has everything you could possibly imagine about baseball.
I would recomend this book to anyone who likes baseball or wants to get into baseball it is a great book.

Animal Farm

Animal Farm is a book about a farm where the animals take over the farm and kick the owner out. They try to govern themselves and make laws, but they have some currupt leaders (three pigs). When this book was published Stalinist Russia was a target. This author used an animal farm to symbolize Stalin's rule over Russia.
I will give you some examples of the great similarity of the book and the communism and Salin's reign. For example, one of the things that were similar was that when Stalin became leader he made plans that would take a very long time and a lot of hard work. Same as the pigs. Stalin made workers work extremely hard and long hours for very little pay. So did the pigs exept the animals got payed with food. Boxer was a horse in the book that alxays was the hardes woker and work about 10 times harder then the others and was treated as a hero. Alexei Stakhanov was a real worker who basically the exact same thing happened to. Those are just some of many examples.
George Orwell, the author did an amazing job with the symbolism between this event and the book. I could barely tell any differences. I would recomend this book for anyone looking for something very interesting to read.

Peak

Hello. I have recently read a book called Peak, by Roland Smith. Peak Marcello is a fourteen year-old who loves to climb. Unfortunatly Peak lives in New York City, where there is not much to climb except skyscrapers(illegally). Peak tries to climb the Woolworth Building, a sky scraper in New York. Peak completed his goal(painfully), but was caught when he reached the top and is sent to Juvenile Detention center. While he is in JDC his long-lost father offers him an oppertunity to climb Mt. Everest(the tallest mountain in the world). Peaks options are:
1: Spend over three years in jail.
or
2: Climb Mt. Everest with his father.
Needless to say, he chose option 2. If Peak makes it to the top of Mt. Everest he will be the youngest person to stand over 29,000 ft.
Peak begins the gruesome climb with his father and his new friend Sun-jo. Sun-jo would also be the youngest person to stand above 29,000 ft., but not as young as Peak. Peak passes Base camp, Advance Base Camp (ABC), and many other camps until he is very close to his goal. Although he had many close calls along the way. Peak and Sun-jo are ten feet from the top when Peak decides to turn back so that Sun-jo will hold the record of the youngest person to stand above 29,000 ft. Peak returns home as a much more happy and changed person.
I believe that the author, Roland Smith did a great job using symbolism in this story. I think that he usined the idea of climbing up a mountain as the hard journey of life.