Hamati,  Marina

Book  Report  #1

English,  Period  3

November  2,  2016

Criss Cross

Lynne  Rae  Perkins

Young Adult Novel

337 Pages

Newberry Prize

            The  novel,  Criss  Cross,  by Lynne  Rae  Perkins,  is  about  five  friends,-  Lenny,  Debbie,  Phil,  Patty,  and  Hector-  but  is  mainly  is  about  the  two  main  characters,  Hector  and  Debbie.  They  are  two  fourteen  year  olds  who  wished  something  good  would  happen  and  felt  that  they  are  changing.  It begins  with  a  boy  named  Hector  going  with  his  sister,  Rowanne,  and  her  friends  to  a  coffee  house.  A  performer  went  on  a  stage  where  they  started  to  play  the  guitar. This  sparked  an  interest  for  Hector  that  made  him want  to  play  the  guitar  as  well.  His  parents  sent  him  to  guitar  lessons.  He  meets  a  girl  named  Meadow  and  a  boy named  Dan  Persik.  Hector forms a crush on Meadow,  but is  crushed  to see Dan  and Meadow holding  hands  at  a  fair.  Debbie  wishes  for  change  on  her necklace  constantly,  but  later  on she  loses  her necklace.  Hector  found  her  necklace later  on  at  a fair and  their  eyes  met.  Whenever  the  five  friends  have  free  times  they  go into  Lenny’s dad’s truck to  listen to  the  radio (to a radio show  called  Criss  Cross),  nobody  was  available  except  Debbie  and  Lenny,  so  Lenny  taught  Debbie  to  use  a  stick  shift.  Later on  Debbie  helps  an  old lady  Mrs.Bruning.  Mrs.Bruning’s  grandson (Peter) visits  his  grandmother  and  the  two  teens  met. Mrs.Bruning becomes  ill and  Debbie  drives  her  to  the  hospital.  Debbie  and  Peter  hung  out  for  a  while.  Soon after,  Peter leaves and is not able  to come  back.  Debbie became  morbid.  Later  on,  Debbie  and  Hector  go  to  a  fair  and  sing  songs  together.  Their  eyes  meet  and  their  paths  are  crossed.

              I  found  this  novel  quite  dull and  boring.  Although  I  like  the  messages  it  gives. The  plots  did  not  have  much  action  or  climax  because  most  of  the  problems  are  solved  in  the  end.  For  example,  Debbie  loses  her  necklace someone returns  it  to  her.  I  also  liked  how  close  the  friends  were.  It  reminds  me  of  my  friends  and  how  close  we  are.  The  quote,  “She  wished  something  would  happen.  Something  good.  To  her,” on  the  cover  makes  me  think  it  is  good  to  wish  and  hope,  but  better  to  accomplish  it.  I mostly  like  how  this  book  is  worded.  For  example,  on  page  95, “Finally,  Lenny  turn  the  key,  and  the  radio  became  the third  person…”  Some  parts  of  the  book  I  enjoyed,  but  the  rest  I did  not.  Depending  on  the  person  and  their  interests,  I  would  recommend  this  to some  people.

The Giver

Kontos,James
Book Review#1
English Peiod 4

The Giver

Lois Lawry

Fiction

225 pages

Newborn Award honor

Kontos,James

October 23,2016

English per 4

                                                               THE GIVER

     The novel , by Lois Lowry is about a boy named Jonas who is about to  be 12 years old.In the beginning, the author talks about Jonas’ family .  Jonas’  parents both work.  Jonas’ father’s job is called the nurturer.  He nurtures small children, until it is time to give them to families.  Jonas’ mother has a job at the Department of Justice.  Th Elders chose their jobs.  They choose everyone’s jobs in the Community. No one has free choice..

When children turn 12, they attend a special ceremony and are given the job that the elders choose for them .  These are jobs  for the rest of their life. Jonas  was given a  special job to be a receiver. The receiver’s job is to keep every ones 

memories. Being the receiver is very hard because it takes a lot of training. It is lonely because it is very secretive and you can’t talk to anyone about it.

     Jonas’ dad brings a baby home to hopefully help it. The baby always cries and does not meet the rules for it to be given to a family.  If he does not do better, he will be released..  Now that he is the receiver,  Jonas finds out what release means.  It means to kill.

Jonas finds out that they are going to release the baby so he decides to run away from the

  community.  The next morning Jonas took his fathers bike. He took his bike because there was

a basket for the baby, Gabe to go in. They woke up early and left for many of days.

There where search crews looking for them.Planes with heat detectors were even looking for them.  Jonas gave Gabe and himself memories of snow to keep their body temperature down so they would not be detected.  They finally reached a land that every thing was normal and people stopped searching for them.

The only part I really liked was the ending of the book because, baby Gabe was saved from being killed.  On page 225 of the book it says “ Suddenly he was aware with certainty and joy that below, ahead, they were waiting for him.”  He thought he heard music too..

I didn’t like that they would release people because they didn’t fit in with the community. If someone was too old, or twins were born,they would be released as well!  On page 183, the author talks about release.  It explains how the person is made comfortable, and then injected with something.  This kills them.   I liked the end of the book a lot because  Gabe would not die. Jonas saved him from getting the injection that would have killed him.  Jonas took Gabe and ran away from the community.  The people in the community would get Jonas’ memories because he no longer lived with them.  This is explained on page 180 of the book.  I would recommend this book to other readers.  This book is unusual.    It is a different way of thinking.  The community wants to help people from making wrong choices.  This is why the elders pick everything for them. The people see no colors.  Flesh color is all the same.  they don’t want everyone to be burdened and pained. That is why they have a memory keeper.  This is a very different way of thinking. 

Nicole Pelina

Book Review #1

Period 4

31 October 2016

           

 Pictures of Hollis Woods

Patricia Reilly Giff

Fiction

166 pages

Newberry Honor Award

            The novel, Pictures of Hollis Woods, is about a main character named Hollis Woods. Hollis is a 12 year old orphan, who usually pushes people away. Hollis drew pictures, and it explained the story behind it, why she drew it, and what she drew. Since Hollis was an orphan, a lady she called the "mustard woman" brought her to a person named Josie Cahill. In her pictures, they would describe each memory that she had with the Regan family. The Regan family had a brother, Steven Regan, a father, the "Old Man", and Izzy, the mother. Hollis had stayed with the Regan family for the summer. Soon, the summer ended, and she had to go. Remembering the Old Man saying the house was all to hers, Josie and Hollis left at night to drive to the house to spend Christmas there. Towards the end of the book, it slowly explained why Hollis left the Regan family. On Christmas, Hollis had reunited with Steven, and Josie had reunited with Beatrice. Hollis became a part of the Regan family.

            What I liked about this book was its creativity. Each picture explained the story and her memories. For example, one of her pictures talked about Steven Regan, her foster brother. One major think that I liked about this book is that it represented family. In the book, it showed exactly how a family behaved and how it had its ups and downs. It showed Hollis what a family was, and how it feels to have one. However, I dislike that the book is slightly confusing at first. Each chapter would jump back and forth. One chapter would explain what is happening to her currently, then the next chapter would explain her pictures. I liked the ending very much because Hollis and finally reunited with her foster family again. I would definitely recommend this book to others because this book is a little different from other books. It is a very interesting read, and I would love to read it again.

Mansour, Verena

Book review #1

Period 4

25 October 2016

Island of the blue dolphins

Scott O’Dell

Fiction

174

Newberry award

 

          The book, Island of the Blue Dolphins, by Scott O’Dell, is about a girl who is left on an island her name is Karana. She had a brother named Ramo and a sister named Ulape. Her people lived in a village called Galas at. One day a ship full of Russians called Aleuts came to hunt for otter so Karana’s dad said sure and they took everything and a bunch of her people died because they started fighting with the Aleuts. Eventually Karana’s father made everyone go on canoes and they left Ramo and Karana because he was trying to get his fishing spear. But the next day he got eaten by the wild dogs so she was all alone. He the Aleuts came but she hid in a cave until they left. Karana even finds a friend named Tutok but she’s from the Aleuts but she gave her company until she left. Karana also becomes friends with a wild dog named Rontu and they were best friends. Rontu eventually passed away after old age but Karana found Rontu dog and she named him Rontu junior. Then rescuers came and took her to saint Barbra in California where she finds out the ship had sunken with all her people before they could come back for her.

      My favorite part in the book was when Karana met Tutok and they became friends and they would talk even though they spoke different languages that reminds me of my cousin who’s Italian and whenever she comes we talk by using hand gestures so I related to that part. Another part of the book was that Karana’s best friend was a wild dog which is pretty much just a coyote that shows you can be friends with anything. Another part that I liked in this story was that it was based on a true story and that I could relate at some points. The big thing that I didn’t like was how the book was very descriptive at moments when they spoke of when someone got killed or hurt. I also didn’t like how violent the book was it was a little too violent for me and the author could have left some parts out of the story. I liked the end of the book because after her being alone she could go back to where her family was supposed to be. One thing I didn’t like was how she never found out where her friend was but a good thing was that she can take Rontu junior and her two birds. If you like violent books with very descriptive wordings, then it’s the right book for you. Another thing is that if you like adventurous books then you’ll love this book because it’s also about surviving and trying to have shelter and live and finding your own food. Another thing is that at the end she starts going out and searches for thing to do and she finds out that there was a cave where her old ancestors lived and when she went to the cave she saw skeletons and then she knew for sure those where her ancestors. The last thing I like about the book was how at the end when she was leaving it was very peaceful and how she could take what she wanted with her but the ending was also disappointing because she found out her family did not make it to California. That pretty much sums up what I like and what I don’t in this story of the Island of the Blue Dolphins. But overall it was a very good book and I enjoyed reading it and I am considering this author because I like the way he writes stories and how he gives a lot of information even though it sometimes might be gross.

 

 

      

      

 

 

 

Nunez, Julian

October 29, 2016

English, Period 4

Book Review #1

 

Neuromancer

William Gibson

Science Fiction

263 Pages

Hugo, Nebula, and Philip K. Dick Awards

 

   The book, Neuromancer, is about a man named Case who was the best data thief until he made the mistake of that he promised never to make, stealing from an employer. Instead of killing Case, the ex-employer made sure he was never able to hack again. Case spends a while unemployed, until a man named Armitage hires him and gives him another chance at hacking. He is paired with street samurai named Molly Millions. Problem is, Molly doesn’t trust Armitage. Their first job is to steal a ROM (read only memory) construct with the memories of Dixie Flatline, who was once Case’s mentor. With Dixie’s memories and skills, he hacks into a database in London with Armitage’s past. It turns out Armitage is actually Colonel Willis Corto, who was the sole survivor of a failed military program named Screaming Fist. Corto was so traumatized from the experience; he lost all sanity, so the government made him a new personality, which was Armitage. Case isn’t able to use the information because his team is already going to Istanbul to pick up another member, a man named Rivera. At Istanbul, Case meets an advanced artificial intelligence named Wintermute. Wintermute is the one who is controlling Armitage and is in charge of the whole mission. Things begin to go south when Armitage’s breaks down and Corto is released and tries to sabotage the mission. Also, Rivera ends up betraying the group. When Case tries to save Corto, Wintermute throws him out of an air locker. Molly ends up getting captured by Rivera, so when Case goes to save her he finds another artificial intelligence named Neuromancer. Neuromancer is Wintermute’s other half, and Case finds out the mission is to bring them together.

    One of the main reasons why I liked this book was how deeply thought out it was. There was so much detail it was hard to believe that a human was writing it. I also liked how different it was from other books; most Sci-Fi books are about space and futuristic settings. You typically don’t see stories about hacking and artificial intelligence. But sometimes, the book was too advanced for me. There would be times where I would get confused and I would have to back track to understand it. And sometimes, the book wasn’t very clear on what was happening, that’s why I would back track so much. The ending of the book was decent, not great, but not bad either. It was the ending that was expected, there was no twist or anything special. I would recommend this book to people if they really enjoy reading; the book is pretty complicated and long. There is also some bad language throughout the book and some violence, but it is not over the top. This is one of those books that I feel like would make a better movie rather than a book.

Rami Saad

Book Review #1

Period 4      
31 October 2016                                      

                                                                     

The Wanderer

Sharon Creech

Adventure

305 pages

Newberry Honor book

                                                              

                                                                  

The novel, The Wanderer, by Sharon Creech, is about two main characters, Sophie and her cousin Cody. Sophie is adopted, and doesn’t know much about her childhood. Luke has many problems with his father who is one of the people going on the trip. They are going on an adventure by boat to England, to see their grandfather Bompie. Their crew consists of Sophie’s, three uncles, and two cousins including Cody. Sophie’s parents are worried to see her go, but she is excited. The crew isn’t very close to one another and often argues. During the trip, they stopped at many places. At these places they see Sophie’s and Cody’s uncle’s friends. They also explore the lands and repair the boat. One time Sophie and Cody were exploring a nearby Island when they got lost, there was fog, and they had to find their way back using a compass. This is one of the adventures they had at the places they stopped. On the boat, when the crew had time to waste, each person taught the crew something new. Sophie told Bompie’s stories, and Cody taught how to juggle. Nearing England, the crew faced much casualty. There was harsh weather, and big waves. The crew was injured, and the boat was damaged. They were wondering if they would make it back to land. Once they arrived in England, they were able to see Bompie, and spend valuable time with him. In the end, the crew became closer to one another compared to the beginning of the book, and they all made it back home safely.

                  

In the book Sophie and Cody are writing a log to tell about their trip. Something interesting and different was the author used different font, to express who was talking. Another thing I liked was the connection between all the characters, and how they became closer to one another. I could feel the character’s bond’s growing throughout the trip, and it was nice to see them stick together even in harsh conditions. For example when the big wave hit the boat, Cody got injured, and Sophie helped cover up his wounds. One of the two things I disliked was when there was nothing going on in the book it was slightly boring to read. In these chapters, there wasn’t much exploring or adventure, but they would sit on the boat and look at dolphins, and animals. Another dislike of mine was some of the chapters were very short, and it was hard to grasp the main idea of that chapter. Some of the chapters were as short as two pages. I really liked the end of the book because despite all the troubles the crew faced, they were able to see Bompie and get back home safely. It was scary to think the crew was out in the sea, troubled, but I was relieved to see they made it back to land safely. I would recommend this book to people who have adventurous and exploring minds. This book consists of suspense, risks, and danger. If you have and adventurous, and brave mind, I strongly recommend you read The Wanderer.

                                                                

Saad, Matthew

Book Review #1

Period 4

October 31, 2016

A Wrinkle in Time

Madeleine L’ Engle

Fantasy

232 pages
John Newbery Medal

        

    The novel, A Wrinkle in Time, by Madeleine L’ Engle is about a teenage girl named Meg who has a younger brother named Charles Wallace, and younger twins. Meg’s father has disappeared. No one really knows what happened to him. Meg’s teacher keeps telling her that her father isn’t coming back, but Meg wont listen to her teacher because her mother, Mrs. Murry, still has faith that he will return one day. The book begins with an old lady with the name Mrs. Whatsit who comes into the Murry’s house. Mrs. Whatsit informs Mrs. Murry about a tesseract, which is like a wrinkle in time. Through this wrinkle in time, Meg may be able to find and bring back Mr. Murry. The next day, Meg and Charles Wallace walk to Mrs. Whatsit’s house to find more information about the tesseract. On the way they confront Calvin O’Keefe, a popular boy at Meg’s high school. Meg invited Calvin to her house for dinner, and gets to know him better. Calvin found out about Meg’s father and was interested in helping her in his return. Mrs. Whatsit and her two other friends, Mrs. Witch, and Mrs. Who, then fly Meg, Calvin, and Charles into Camazotz, the planet overtaken by the dark think, and told them to stick together in order to find Charles and Meg’s father.  When Meg, Charles, and Calvin arrive to Camazotz, they meet a man with red eyes who tried to hypnotize them into following IT. Charles Wallace then tries to fight the dark force but then eventually he got overtaken into the evil. Charles Wallace then takes them to see Mr. Murry who was been imprisoned from IT. Meg and Calvin then free Mr. Murry from a glass chamber and are lead to IT by Charles Wallace who was still under IT’s power. Seconds before IT tried to hypnotize Meg and Calvin, Mr. Murry saves them by tessering them onto another planet called Ixchel. All three Mrs. W’s appeared in Ixchel and told Meg to go back to Camazotz and rescue he brother. They told her to use the power of love to defeat the power of evil, which was upon Charles Wallace.  Meg then returns to Camazotz and then uses the power of love on her brother. When Charles becomes fully restored, they tesser through time and land in the garden back home and find Calvin and their father next to them. The family then rejoins together.

            Some of the good things I liked about the book were how Meg had to rescue Charles from IT using the power of love against the power of evil. This part of the story left me in suspense, because it made me become curious if Meg had the power to restore Charles from IT. I also enjoyed how the book carried the theme of love and courage throughout it. Some of the things I didn’t like about the book were how Mrs. Murry and the twins disappeared in the beginning and only showed up at the end of the story. I felt that they should have played a more important role in the book. I quite enjoyed the end of the book for the following reasons: Mr. Murry was saved, Charles was fully healed and restored, and the family was reunited. I enjoyed it because the book couldn’t have ended any safer and smoother than it had. I would strongly recommend this book to readers who like fantasy and adventure with plenty of suspense. The book makes you feel as if you are living the adventure to save Charles. The book also carries a variety of themes such as love, courage, and highlights that it is fine to accept the fact of being lonely and different from others.

          Kosta Prevas

        October 22, 2016

        English period 4

         Book Review #1

The Crossover

By

Kwame Alexander

Fiction

237 pages

Newberry Award and Coretta Scott King Award

1^st paragraph

           

            The novel, The Crossover, by Kwame Alexander is about these twin brothers named Josh Bell (Filthy McNasty) and Jordan Bell (JB).  Josh got his nickname because he has a nice crossover that can make people fall which is where he gets Filthy and he never cleans his room which is where he got McNasty.  Jordan says that they should call him JB because his favorite player is Michael Jordan.  They both are excellent basketball players like their father who played professional basketball for a short period of time.  Josh is taller than Jordan and can dunk even though he is in seventh grade!  Jordan is more of a shooter and has a soft touch for the ball.  They are a perfect duo on the court and are excellent students in the classroom.  It is hard to keep all of this up when they hear that their dad had his third stroke in the last for months except this one was really bad.  He had hypertension and had a badly scarred heart like his father before him.  He passed away the day after playing a game of one on one with Josh when his blood pressure was too high and he collapsed in the middle of the game.  Their father never missed their basketball games and was thirty-nine years old.  Jordan missed the championship game to be with the family when Josh decided to go to the game.  They ended up winning and Josh was named MVP.  Before their father passed away he told Jordan to give his legendary ring to Josh, the one they had always wanted to wear but never got to.  Their dad was always close to them and he always will be crossing over them.

2^nd paragraph

            This was an excellent book and I enjoyed it.  I liked that it was about basketball because it is my favorite sport and it talks about life off court.  It talks about their family’s life and the classroom when it isn’t about basketball.  I didn’t like the ending very much because it was a little harsh about their father dying.  My dad is also around that age so I think about it sometimes and it kind of hurts because I relate my life to the stories life so it was a little hard.  I do recommend this book to people who like rhymes and basketball or just like to read because once you pick this book up you can’t put it down.  This book also shows that there is more than basketball like learning and family time.  This is why I liked this book and recommend it to others.       

Book Review #1

Molly Jenkins

Book Review #1 

Period 4         

31 October 2016

Hatchet

Gary Paulsen

Realistic Fiction
181 Pages

Newberry Honor

          

          The novel, Hatchet, by Gary Paulsen, is a about a young boy named Brian Robenson. He was going on a trip to see his father for the summer. Brian took a private plane, and he was the only passenger. He also realized that there was only a pilot and no co-pilot. All of sudden, the pilot had a heart attack and Brian was in control of the plane. The plane was going down. Brian surprisingly survived the crash, which he landed in a small lake, and had only some pain in his leg. Brian’s mom gave him a hatchet before he left in case of emergencies and that hatchet ended up saving his life. Brian managed to find a nice cave to make shelter and eventually figured out how to make a fire. After he made a fire, Brian made a spear, which ended up being used to catch tons of fish. After a couple of weeks, a massive tornado appeared and destroyed everything he had. Once Brian knew it was safe to come out of his shelter, he noticed right away that the tail of the plane was sticking out of the water, the tornado had moved the plane. Brian built a raft and made it over by the plane and he noticed there was a survival pack in the window. Brian needed that pack. He used his hatchet and hit the window several times and eventually he made a big enough hole to grab the pack! Inside the pack was matches, a sleeping bag, some chocolate and some other useful survival items. A few days later, he had heard a loud noise, sounding like a plane. Brian went out of his shelter to investigate, and surprisingly he noticed a small plane landed not far from where he was! He ran up to the pilot and the pilot noticed him from news reports. The pilot offered him some food and gave him a ride home.

       One of the most important things I enjoyed in this book, Hatchet, was Brian’s personality. No matter what adversity he faced, he never gave up. Brian went through so much and he never broke down, he was very persistent. Another thing I really enjoyed was the survival aspect of this book, it came in large detail and gave the reader a good description of what was happening. There was also some things I didn’t understand in this book, one of them being why there wasn't a co-pilot. I always thought there was always a co-pilot on a plane just in case of emergencies. I also think that the ending could have been better. Brian didn't attract the plane in any way, the plane landed without any reason of it being on that exact island. I would highly recommend this book to other readers because there is so much detail in this book to where you can imagine what’s happening. The author does an amazing job of keeping the reader entertained and communicates to the reader very well.