Thursday, May 6, 2010

Shiloh

I have just completed a book called Shiloh, by Phyllis Reynolds Naylor. This book made me feel sad and happy, I felt sad because of the way Judd treats his dogs, and how Shiloh got hurt by the big German Shepherd. I felt happy when Marty got Shiloh. I have a connection to my life, it didn't really happen to me, but it's happened to a person in my family, the connection is about my three cousins who live in Beijing buying a dog. My cousin Merrie's friend got a dog from a friend of their's, but her sister was alergic to dogs, so they sold it, and my cousins bought the dog from her, all three of them paid for the dog, Jenny and Katherine payed the same amount, but Merrie payed the most, because she really wanted it. So now the dog is Jenny, Katherine and Merrie's, but it's mostly Merrie. And they named the dog Toto. It relates to the book because Marty work very hard for Shiloh, and Merrie used lots of her own money to buy Toto. This is a just right book because, I can understand the whole book, make connections, and I can really understand the characters feelings.

Marty changed a lot, because at first he told lies to everyone, because he wanted to keep Shiloh alive, so he built a pen for him, and he keeps on bringing Shiloh food from dinner, he changed from not lying, to lying, and then back to not lying. He started to lie because he loved Shiloh so much, and really wanted to keep him alive, and he knew that if he told his parents, they would make him give Shiloh back. Another character that changed was Shiloh, the dog of Judd, Judd treated all his dogs very mean and cruel, and Shiloh keeps on running away, Shiloh changed a lot because, at first, he didn't trust Marty at all, Shiloh was even scared to get close to Marty, but then after he got to know Marty more, Shiloh knew that Marty was nice, he is not mean, so he began to trust Marty and love him. Shiloh changed because of Marty, he found out Marty really loved him by what he does to him, and not eating his meals to save it for him.

The problem of the story is, Marty really wanted Shiloh, but then he can't keep it because it's Judd's. The problem was resolved when Marty made a deal with Judd that if he works for him, for 2 weeks, then he can get Shiloh. Marty worked very hard because he really wanted Shiloh, and he will do anything to get him, and after working 2 weeks for Judd, Marty got Shiloh. I want to change the part when Marty's mom offers to buy Shiloh, because it does not make any difference if she said that or not, so I would change that to something more interesting, instead of her mom offering to buy Shiloh. I think the author's message is, that even though you really want to do something for someone really badly, you can't lie, you always have to be honest.

Wednesday, May 5, 2010

The Mum Detective

I just finished a book called The Mum Detective, by Gwyneth Rees. This book was very exciting, because lots of different things happened, like Matthew and his girlfriend Jenny ran away, and how mad and sad both of their dads got, when Esmie thought that the dead body in the allotment was Jenny's mother, and Jenny was very mad that she said that her dad was dangerous. My connection is that I have a Crime Busters book, just like Esmie, and I really like to read it, and Esmie does too, she even has a kit to go with it, so she can test out different things. This connection helped me understand more about how exciting it is to read the book, and test things out. This book is a just right book for me because I understood the whole book, and I can picture it out in my head.

One character that changed is Jenny, she change from very nice to mad and mean to very nice, at the end and the beginning Jenny was lots of fun and always let Esmie try on different things in her room, but then Jenny changed in the middle of the book because Esmie said that her dad was dangerous. Esmie thought Jenny's dad was dangerous because she thought that he killed Jenny's mom. But then she found out that it was someone else. After Esmie apologized for saying something that was not true, Jenny forgave her and she became really nice again. Another character that changed was Lizzie. Lizzie is Esmie's dad's girlfriend, at first she was very afraid to tell Esmie about herself, but at the end Lizzie became fun and was very outgoing. She changed because once Esmie spied on her, and then Lizzie knew that Esmie wanted her to be more like a mom, and not hide a side of her from Esmie.

The main problem of the story is that Esmie's mom died when she was giving birth to Esmie, she tried to help Jenny find her mom, and she trying to get her dad to marry Lizzie, because she really wanted a mom, and when Lizzie was acting weird about where she was going, Esmie went and spied on her. Esmie didn't accomplish her goal of helping Jenny find her mom, Esmie got in contact with Jenny's aunt, but she didn't know where her mom is either, but Jenny was still very happy because she got in contact with her mom's sister. Lizzie didn't marry Esmie's dad yet, but Lizzie is getting closer to their family, and even brought home for them a kitten, so Esmie's whole family is very happy. I would change the part where Esmie spies on Lizzie because I think it very isn't nice to interfere with other peoples life. I think the author's message is, we should not get our hopes up that high, just incase you can't get what you want and will be very disappointed, so we should be very happy for what we have.

Wednesday, April 21, 2010

CandyFloss

I just finished a book called CandyFloss, by Jacqueline Wilson. The book made me feel sort of sad, since Floss' parent were divorced, and her mom married a man named Steve, and Steve got a job in Australia, so her mom, stepfather, and stepbrother, are moving to Australia, it was very hard for her to make the decision, because she wanted to stay with her dad, and she wanted her mom too. I really don't think it was right for her mom to just leave her, and go to Australia. I had very hard decisions to make too, but they weren't this hard. Sometimes, it's hard for me to decide what I should buy at the shop, when my mom said only to buy one thing, and sometimes, it's hard for me to decide whether I should stay at my grandparent's house, or my aunt's house. It's very hard for me because sometimes, you really want to do both, and you just can't make a decision, but if someone else makes the decision for you, you will want to do the other. Like these little things, you can choose randomly, because you will have more chances, but like the problems Floss are dealing with, will need some deep thinking. This was a just right book for me because, I understood every bit of the story, and I understood the character's feelings.

Rhiannon use to be Floss' best friend, until her mom moved away, and Floss had to live with her dad, in his greasy cafe, she thought that Floss smelled, hung out with the very popular girls, she blended in quickly, because she was considerably the prettiest girl in class, after beginning with the popular girls, she started to ignore Floss, and called her all sorts of names. Floss didn't have any friends, so she became friends with the new girl Susan. Susan was also a character who changed a lot, she was a new student at Floss' school, she was very smart, that's why people tease her, and make fun of her. She was very scared at the start of the story, but then she became braver when she and Floss became friends. She would stand up for Floss and would help Floss on her math. Rhiannon changed because of Floss' dad, because she really didn't like his cafe, and didn't appreciate him one bit. Susan changed because of Floss, Floss gave her lots of ideas, and things to do, Floss stood up for Susan, then Susan learned not to be afraid, and stood up for Floss.

After making a huge decision. Floss' dad had no business in his cafe, so they ended up having an even bigger problem, which is, where are they going to live? Good thing one of his three customers won a lottery, and was planning a trip to Australia to see his son. He said that Floss and his dad could live at his house when he's in Australia. After a while of living in Billy's house, and helping out at his chip van, Billy decided that he was going to stay in Australia with his son. He was going to sell his old torn down house. Now the problem is, where are they going to live? Thankfully they met people at the fair, Rose, the lady who sells candy floss, lives in a car van, and she has a spare one since her son went to live somewhere else. So Rose said that they can live in the other car van until they find a house. Floss' dad opened a fast food place in a van, and Floss was helping both Rose and her dad. I would change the part about Floss' mom moving away, I would change it to, Floss' mom will really miss her after a while, and wants to come back to meet Floss, and Steve quits his job and goes back to Floss, and that Floss' dad would not lose his job, and he will have a place to live, and everything goes back to normal. I think the authors message is, you have to face the challenges and live with the changes in your life.

Tuesday, March 9, 2010

Abe Lincoln's Hat

I have just completed a book called Abe Lincoln's Hat by Martha Brenner. This book made me think of my mom, and how organized she is just like Abe Lincoln. Abe Lincoln kept all his letters in his hat, so there would not be letters that he can't find, or letters he didn't reply. My mom always keeps track of stuff, she will never lose a piece of paper, or a little thing. This book is a just right book because, I can learn lots of different stuff from it, like being organized, because I am not that organized, I lose stuff easily, so I should learn from Abraham Lincoln, learn to be organized.

Abraham Lincoln was first very disorganized, at first letters were everywhere in his room, so he can't find the one he is looking for, but then he found a way to make himself organized, which is buying a tall black hat to keep his letters in. That way, he will always remember if he read that letter or not, and he would not forget to reply a single letter. I think what made him change was that he found what he was weak at, so he learned from his mistakes, he thought the hat had enough room for lots of things, so that's how he thought of putting letters in his hat. But after he got the hat and put letters in to it, there was some challenges he had to face. Some of the kids make fun of him for wearing a hat that tall, so they tied a thin piece of string, everyone can walk under it, except for Abe Lincoln, because of the hat, so when he walks down the street, the string will tip his hat off, and all the kids will laugh, but Abe Lincoln did not get mad at them, he just laughed along.

Abe Lincoln had to face lots of challenges in being a lawyer, he had to help lots of people, for example, he had to help two men determine who owns the colt, he took both of the mother horses to the back yard, and he was holding on to the colt, then Abe let the baby colt run free, he wanted to see who the colt will go to, and the one that the colt goes to, is it's mother. If I will change this book, I will make it harder, not that easy, I will explain more about what happened and what he did, and not just give tiny examples. I think the author is trying to tell us, that we have to learn from what we have done wrong, like Abe how he could have put all his letters in a box, or make his room organized, but then he found out what he was weak at, which was being organized, so he concentrated on that, and thought of the idea of putting his letters in his hat.

Sunday, February 28, 2010

Kensuke's Kingdom

I have just completed a book called Kensuke's Kingdom, by Michael Morpurgo. This book was a very exciting book, after I read one chapter, I would want to read on. This book made me think about on a boat trip we went on, and one night, the boat was rocking really hard, and I felt really uncomfortable. This connection help me understand the characters feeling, how bad it feels when the boat is rocking. I think this is a good book for me because I can make lots of different connections.

I think Kensuke changed a lot most, because at first, Kensuke hated Michael for lighting up the fire, he got really mad, but then, Kensuke knew more about Michael, then they became friends. At first, Michael did not know why Kensuke got mad at him for lighting up the fire and swimming in the water, but after talking to Kensuke, he found out that Kensuke did not like when people knew there was someone living on this island, and that he was very independent, because people came and killed the orangutans, and because the orangutans was his friends. He didn't want Michael to swim in the ocean because he knew there was lots of jellyfishes in the ocean, and they can sting people, but Michael did not listen to him, he went in the water to swim, he got stung, and almost died, but Kensuke saved his life, and they became friends.

The problem of the story was that Michael fell of the boat and that how Kensuke helped him to survive on the island. I would change the part where Michael fell of the boat to the sunk and that his parents died, but he floated on to the island. I think the authors message is, we have to appreciate what you have.