812 Reviews discussion

Paragraph 1: Summarize the text without giving away the ending. In your summary, make sure to identify the genre, protagonist, antagonist, setting, and the primary conflict. This paragraph should be a MINIMUM of five sentences.

Paragraph 2: Reflection (should be a minimum of six sentences)
Answer at least TWO of the following questions:
1.) Did you like/dislike this book? Why/why not?
2.) Did you make any personal connections to the text? Explain.
3.) To whom would you recommend this text? Why?
4.) What advice would you give to the author? What questions do you have?
5.) How does this book compare to others you have read by the same author?
6.) How does this book compare to others you have read in the same genre?
7.) What was the most aspect of the text? Character development? The setting? The kind of conflict?
8.) Create your own interesting question!

Here's a model of an exemplar review:

“The best time to cry is at night, when the lights are out and someone is being beaten up and screaming for help.” This quote opens Walter Dean Myers's intense text, Monster, a work of realistic fiction that takes place in New York City during the 1990s. Using journal entries and scripts, the novel tells the story of Steve Harmon, a sixteen year-old accused of being an accessory in the robbery of a convenience store and the murder of its owner. Feeling alienated from society, Steve is forced to reflect upon his own character to determine whether he is in fact the monster that much of society believes him to be. Talented and intelligent, the once aspiring film-maker is now a resident of the Manhattan Detention Center. Dealing with the pressure of disappointing his parents and failing as a role model to his brother Jerry, Steve uses writing to cope with the fear during the murder trial, as he faces the reality of a life behind bars.

Overall, I thought Monster to be an amazing journey. Steve faces many of the same problems that many teens do today. Not only does Steve endure pressure from neighborhood delinquents, but he also struggles with deciding what kind of man he wants to be. Is having strong moral character more important than maintaining his image and proving to people that he has, as the delinquent Bobo phrases it, "heart." Therefore, I would recommend this book my students, for it might encourage them to think twice before making a choice they know to be wrong. Because I think he understands teens so well, I would recommend to Myers that he writes more novels with female protagonists. Girls face many of the same issues as boys, yet novels often portray them as superficial or dramatic. I believe that he his themes about standing up for yourself and resisting peer pressure would also resonate with them and serve as an inspiration for positive decision making. Bottom line, whether his books are geared for boys or girls, teens or adults, Walter Dean Myers's engaging writing style, inspiring themes, and realistic conflicts continue to cause his readers to deeply reflect about the choices they make in deciding what kind of person they ultimately want to be.

Jeremy's 2nd Review:

The book The Bully is about a boy named Darrell and he is from Philadelphia. Darrell is sad because him and his mother are moving to California so his mother was offered a better job there by her brother. When they are in California Darrel starts to wonder around town and he sees theses boys in front of a store so he tries to make friends but they start to bully him, so now he has to go to school with him bullying him.The bullies name is Tyray Hobbs.So through out the year he has bin getting bullied by Tyray.He was just taking his mothers advice "just smile and be your self".Through out the year he doesn't tell anyone.This is a fiction story.
I for one liked this book because i was able to read about real life conflicts.I didn't make any personal connections because i have never bin bullied.I would recommend this book to people who likes to read about real life conflicts.If this was a series i would write a letter to the main charter saying to stand up for him self and tell someone about what is going on.

Jeremy's 3rd Review:

In True (...Sort of) by Katherine Hannigan there is a girl named Delly and whatever happened she would say it with her name at the end like for example I am going on a Dellyventure. Delly is always getting in to trouble but she wasn't like this when she was younger. The way this all started was when her and her family went to a fair and she separated from the group let all the chickens out of there coop and everybody had to help and get them back in the coop.Thats where Delly and Officer Tibbetts met.The trouble didn't stop there,she started sending notes in to school saying please excuse Delly Pattersion from class today but what she was doing was going cone wing on someone else's boat.
This is a really good book.It shows the relationship between the brother and the sister and all the other people in this book.I enjoyed this book because it is a bunch of genres like comedy/drama/action.

I just finished the book the lifeguard by Deborah blumemthal. It is about a girl named Sirena she goes to her aunts house for the summer because her parents are splitting apart. but she doesn't want to go to her aunts house in Rhode Island. Until one day she meets this boy named pilot he's a lifeguard at the beach in Rhode Island. Then she starts to fall for this boy and she also becomes best friends with pilots grandfather Antonio. towards the middle of the book she starts to get jealous because she sees pilot with a girl and she thinks it's his girlfriend but it's not. At the end of the book pilot and Sirena fall in love and Sirena goes back home when the summer is over.

I really liked this book because once I started to read it I got interested in it and it's also the type of genre I like to read.I would recommend thus book to someone who liked to read books about romantic things even if your not into It I think you should try because you might like it. What advice I would give to the author is she did a really good job because I really enjoyed the book and I hope to find more books to read by this author. The relationship between pilot and Sirena was they were really close to each other and were always opened and expressed there feelings for one another. I really enjoyed the book and I recommend it.

"Some people claimed it was enchanted, others swore it was cursed; but, really, it hardly mattered what you thought because you couldn't get to it." This quote opens Roderick Townley’s suspenseful text, The Door in the Forest, a work of fantasy that takes place on a mysterious island, surrounded by quicksand and vines. The novel tells the story of Daniel Crowley, a young boy from Everwood, who is very determined to enter the island with his friend Emily. The first sentence in the novel reflects the goal Daniel and Emily set for themselves. They are drawn to this island and dream of finding out what awaits them. The title also reflects the lies, truths, and secrets about the island. The two friends find out that the island is both wonderful and not so wonderful at the same time.

Overall, the novel, The Door in the Forest, is somewhat entertaining. I enjoyed the suspense in the story, but did not enjoy the dialogue between characters. The journey that Daniel and Emily experienced on the island left me curious. I was always suspicious about what would happen next. Would they run into wild animals? Would they even make if off the island? I had so many questions. The conversations between the characters did not have a lot of feeling. There was not much emotion. I would have liked the dialogue to be more descriptive. Descriptive dialogue helps me to understand what they are talking about or what they are going through.

I would recommend this text to people who enjoy reading fantasy novels. The novel is full of magical experiences. Readers can expect to come across a magical creature that can turn anything into a spider, and the owner of the island who can immediately make the day turn from night to morning and morning to night.

Chicken Soup for the Soul: Teens Talk Middle School: 101 Stories of Life, Love, and Learning for Younger Teens this book was awesome

The Upstairs RoomJohanna Reiss

The Upstairs Room is about this little family that lives in Holland. This family is Jewish and and they go through a lot of problems in their lives.I think that the genre is horror because in the book the charters are living in fear of Hitler.They are living in fear because in the time period the book is taking place he is going around and killing or arresting the Jewish people.Most of the story take place in their house but as the story progressed the setting changed.The mane problem in the story is that the family is trying not to get killed or cot by Hitler or by the men who work for them.

I actually liked this book because I though it was exciting because I liked reading about what they did to stay alive.I would recommend this book to people who like reading about people who escaped the army or just like exciting stores.

“Not long ago in a large university town in California, on a street called Orchard Avenue, a strange old man ran a dusty shabby store.” This quote opens Zilpha Keatley Snyder’s imaginative and suspenseful text, The Egypt Game, a work of fantasy that mostly takes place on a deserted storage yard in California behind the dusty A-Z Antique and Curio Shop. The novel tells the story of two friends, Melanie Ross and April Hall, who discover that they both love anything to do with ancient Egypt. The title reflects the game both characters came up with. Melanie and April met four people at their school and invited them to be part of their Egypt Game. Each person who plays the game becomes an Egyptian.

The text allowed me to make personal connections to my interests. One of my interests is learning about ancient Egypt. I enjoy learning about the Egyptian culture. I have books on the Egyptian culture. On the weekends, I like to go to the Egyptian section of the Metropolitan Museum of Art and look at the sarcophaguses. In addition, I often make comments to my family saying that my dog looks like a sphinx when she sits in a certain position.

I recently finished reading a book called, The Door in the Forest, a work of fantasy that takes place on a mysterious island. The Door in the Forest and The Egypt Game are both fantasy novels. I did not really enjoy reading The Door in the Forest because the dialogue between characters was not very descriptive. I found The Egypt Game more entertaining. The characters were more descriptive when they were describing the events that took place around them. In the story, whenever the characters played the game they invented, things came to life. During one of their experiences, a mummy came out of the game, grabbed one of kids, and began squeezing him very tightly.

I just finished reading my book divergent by Veronica Roth it is about a girl named tris who went from being a selfless girl in abnegation to going to being a brave and strong girl to joining the dauntless faction. One day she meets this guy named four and as she gets to know him she becomes closer to him. When she got tested for the faction test her test results said divergent so the the person who tested her had to make up and put abnegation so no one would find out that she was divergent. so then later on in the book she starts to develop feelings for four the. He starts to like her.

Yes I liked the book because I really enjoyed reading it and I liked the way the author created the story it was a really good book. I would recommend this book to anyone because I think a lot of people who read it would really like it it's also really popular. how this book compares to others is I liked it more then the other books I read and it's the type of books I like to read and I also am thinking about to continue the book series.

Moby-DickHerman Melville

The book is about how a sea captain named Ahab who wants to kill a whale.He doesn't just want to kill something he wants revenge on the whale because that is the same whale that made him have a peg leg.This all starts when a man named Ishmael came to town.He was looking for work so he went to work for captain Ahab.The first night he was on the ship he had to share a room with a man named Queequeg.He was the harpoonist on the ship.The next day they set sail in search of the whale.As the story progresses there is this part where they make a harpoon out of the strongest steel and cuts Queequeg,Tashtego and Daggoo with it and said "this will be the harpoon that kills Moby Dick."I would say this book is fiction.

I really liked this book because I got to read about a adventure and action.There isn't a exact person I would recommend this book to but I will recommend it to people who like action/adventure.I recommend it to them because it might be interesting or exciting to them.If I had to make up a question it would be for the captain.The question would be were you born into being a man of the sea or did he choose to be? I have one more question for the captain,when you were a child did you know all the things you know now or did you learn it recently?

“My name is Shawn McDaniel. My life is like one of those ‘good news-bad-news’ jokes.” This quote opens Terry Trueman’s text, Stuck in Neutral, a work of realistic fiction that takes place in Seattle, Washington. The novel tells the story of Shawn McDaniel, a young fourteen-year-old boy who suffers from cerebral palsy. Cerebral palsy involves brain and nervous system functions, and for Shawn, it means not being able to move his muscles. He is in a wheelchair and has to rely on others to do things for him. His father left the family because he could not handle Shawn’s condition. The title also reflects how Shawn feels stuck in his life. He can’t do anything for himself, but does not feel like he has to take sides between good and bad news. He deals with his situation and stays positive about it all.

Overall, the novel, Stuck in Neutral, is full of drama. It was interesting to watch the drama unfold. There were moments in the story where Shawn got angry with his father. Since Shawn cannot move because of his condition, I wondered how he would have reacted if he could. Would he yell at his father? Would he storm out of the room? Instead, when Shawn felt angry, he thought of punching his father in the face. I would recommend this text to people who love reading realistic fiction novels. Stuck in Neutral is filled with intense experiences. Readers expect to see characters become involved in arguments with one another.

“My only brother is a veg. Yep, a full-fledged, drooling, fourteen-year-old idiot.” This quote opens Terry Trueman’s text, Cruise Control, a work of realistic fiction that takes place in Seattle, Washington. The novel tells the story of Paul McDaniel, a major jock-stud in high school, who finds it hard to have a life of his own since his father bailed on the family. His father left the family because he could not handle his brother’s condition. The title reflects how Paul feels like he is in a car roaring down the freeway, and has no idea where he is headed and is not able to slow down.

Cruise Control is a companion novel to Stuck in Neutral, which I finished last week. A companion novel is when an author writes another book in a series where the books are based in the same world or time. It is different from a sequel. A sequel continues a story. Stuck in Neutral tells the story of Shawn McDaniel, a young boy who suffers from cerebral palsy. Cruise Control somewhat tells that same story, but through the point of view of his brother, Paul. Both books talk about how Shawn’s and Paul’s life are, each from their own perspective. In Paul’s life, he is able to do the things that Shawn cannot do. Paul can physically and verbally express his feelings. For example, in many situations, Paul yells to show that he is angry.

The conflict in the story is that Paul feels like he is responsible for taking care of his brother. He feels responsible because his dad left his family. He stated that it is not easy taking care of his brother all by himself because it stresses him out and he cannot focus on his life. He hates his dad for abandoning the family and making his life miserable. Throughout the book, Paul learns the truth about his father and why he left.

The Adventures of Tom Sawyer

Tom Sawyer is a boy that somehow always finds a way to get himself in to trouble but also finds a way to get himself out of it.For example his Aunt was going to wallop (to strike or hit someone or something very hard) him but he tricked her and ran off.She lets him get away with a lot of things.On Sunday morning Tom and his two friends Sid and Marry went to church but Tom was having trouble learning his Bible verses so Marry tries to encourage him by promising him something nice.After that he got so much better.As the story progresses Tom and his friend Huck witness something terrible.The genre in fiction.
Mark Twain
I really liked this book because it was entertaining to me and it kept me interested.I would recommend this book to people who like reading about treasure.I have some questions for the author.What made you write this book?Is this book based on you?Would you do any of the things Tom and his friends did.