BOOK REPORTS

Characterization

            Peak is the main he character in my book. He is a very brave and persistent person. He is also very smart and very good at rock climbing. I think peak is very brave because he goes to a school where everyone has a certain talent. Some of the kids like his little twin sisters are really good at piano, some are actors, some are very smart. Peak doesn’t really have a talent. He is an alright writer but other than that he’s an outcast, but Peak knows his talent…. Climbing. Peak sneaks out of his house at night and climbs… skyscrapers. Peak manages to climb seven skyscrapers by himself until one night he gets caught. He is brave because after this he decides to move in with his biological father who lives in China. If he goes back to the U.S he will be arrested and thrown in juvenile detention center for 3 years. Peak gets a little surprise they make a stop in Tibet. Then Peak finds out he’s going to be climbing Everest. He will be the youngest American to ever do it. Peak also finds out it’s partially a publicity stunt for his dad’s climbing company. Peak feels let down that his dad only bailed him out for this reason.

Recommendation

            This was probably the best book I’ve read all year. I really liked it because it actually made me want to keep reading. It had a really good plot and was obviously well thought out by the author. It really described the personalities of the characters which I really liked It helped me understand the book a lot better. One thing I didn’t like is some of the foreshadowing got confusing at times, but it also helped to e3xplain the book at the same time. Without the foreshadowing there wouldn’t be a book because at the beginning the foreshadowing explains about half the book. The foreshadowing also makes it so you want to keep reading, you want to find out what happens next. There is a lot of action in this book too. All throughout the book there’s action. It’s not one of those books where you have to read halfway to get to the good parts. The first ten pages are about Peak climbing the skyscraper. When Peak and his dad are climbing there’s action. It just never stops with this book so if you ever just want to read a book, pick up the book Peak.

Stumptown Kid

I read the book ‘Stumptown Kid’ By Carol Gorman and Ron Findley. This book takes place in the nineteen forties, when segregation was still a little bit of a problem. Charlie Nebraska is a twelve year old boy that loves baseball. One day Charlie decides to try out for the wildcats, a travel baseball team in the town where he lives. Charlie tryout and doesn’t make the team. He’s really disappointed but then he meets Luther Peale. Luther is the first African American person Charlie has ever seen. Luther talks to Charlie and gives him some pointers, and then he asks Charlie if he knows anyone looking for a working man. Charlie takes Luther home with him and asks his mom if she knows anyone that needs some help. So Luther gets a job at a chicken farm. In the couple weeks that follow Luther becomes Charlie’s father figure. He helps Charlie with baseball and problems Charlie has. One day Charlie asks Luther why he came to Iowa. Luther explains to Charlie that he used to be a professional baseball player in the Negro league. One day when Luther was pitching, a drunken batter came to the plate. Luther threw a good pitch but the batter ducked his head and got hit in the head hard enough to be killed. Luther was running away from the batters brother who wanted to kill him. Luther ends up making a baseball team and all the neighborhood kids join. The ones that didn’t make the travel team. Even a couple girls join. Charlie is really happy about the team but he’s been getting bullied by a kid on the travel team so Luther says settle it on the field. ‘The Stumptown Stormers’ were going to play the wildcats. During the game Charlie forgets something in the car so he runs to get it. On his way back he runs into Ruckus, the brother of the dead batter. Ruckus takes Charlie and sets a trap to get Luther to come over. Then Charlie and Luther eventually escape ruckus in the storm sewer where Ruckus drowns while chasing them. Every one says Luther is a hero but Luther is sad he didn’t save Ruckus. Luther tells Charlie he has to leave and go back to Tennessee to see his family. He says maybe you and your mama can come watch me play sometime. Charlie said he would love that. Then Luther says, “I’m gunna miss you…son.”

Symbolism

I did symbolism. I think racism is a deeper symbol in this book. The book never said Racist or Racism directly, but when Luther came to town people would stare at him and yell at him. Some people in the town were very accepting of Luther they let him coach their kids, work for them, even become a partial family member. The couple weeks Luther was in town a lot of things happened. He was brought to the sheriff because a rumor about him spread that he was a murderer. He got beat up because of a racist.

                I think that Luther coaching Charlie’s friends and making a baseball team was a symbol of how close Luther and Charlie had become. Charlie looked up to Luther like a Father figure. Luther knew it too. Luther treated Charlie like a son. Luther would have taken a bullet for Charlie and he almost got stabbed saving Charlie.

                Charlie’s dad died in Korea while serving his country. This had a deep undertow on the story. I didn’t notice how much it affected the book until the end. One time a racist tries to stab Luther for killing his brother. This of course was an accident but he still tries to kill Luther. Charlie takes his dad’s bayonet to Luther which holds of the Racist long enough for the sheriff to show up. Charlie’s “almost” stepdad bails out the racist guy the next day and he tries to kill Luther again, but before that a brief story on the “almost stepdad”, Vern. Vern is also a racist, he hates Luther because Charlie is friends with him and Charlie hates Vern for being so prejudice. Charlie hates Vern so much he sometimes pretends his dad is still alive, and about to walk right through the front door. This of course never happens. So the next day Luther saves Charlie’s life after they lead the bloodthirsty racist into the storm sewer and almost drown. The racist didn’t make it to the manhole they crawled up and drowned in the storm sewer. Later that week everybody in town calls Luther a hero but Luther is disappointed. He thinks he should’ve saved the racist. Charlie is disappointed Luther has to leave, But Luther calls Charlie his son and they start crying and go into a father son embrace. I guess his father did walk through that door.

choice book report #2

                This book is about a young 14 year old boy named Matt. Matt has a very big secret, he is a gatekeeper. The gatekeepers are 5 kids that are trying to protect the world from getting destroyed by an evil force called the old ones. Matt is the leader of the gatekeepers. He is very strong willed and very courageous. In the first book of the gatekeepers Matt stands up alone and fights the old ones by himself. Matt saved the entire world by himself.

                In the second book the old ones are trying to open another gate in Peru. Matt has to get a secret book so he can find out where the gate is going to open. Once he gets to Peru he is supposed to find a guy named Diego Salamanda. Diego is a very large business man and he basically owns Peru. He owns all their Cable, Phones and even their police force. So Matt arrives in Peru and Diego sets a trap to try and catch Matt and kill him. The police wait at a hotel and when Matt arrives they beat him up in the middle of the lobby but while they are leaving a second gatekeeper Pedro saves Matt by using his slingshot. Matt and Pedro become very good friends and eventually they save each other’s lives. So in the end of the book Matt and Pedro are going to fight the olds ones but Pedro gets hurt and can’t walk so Matt fights mostly by himself and he gets hurt but miraculously heals the next day.

Choice Book Report/ Recommendation

                Evil Star: this was a good book and that’s a good report because I hate reading. This is the second book in the gatekeepers series by anthony horowitz. I would recommend reading the first book, Ravens Gate first otherwise this book might be a little confusing. I liked this book because it kept you guessing there was always something going on, always some action in the story. It kept me guessing the whole story. It wasn’t like those books you read and you can predict every thing that’s going to happen next, It was always something you never would have thought of. This book was also very desciptive you felt almost as if you were in the story.

 This book is about a fourteen year old boy named Matt, who is involved in a secret oganization called the nexus. The nexus is an organization that is trying to save the world from The old ones. There are few Old Ones left and they are going around trying to open gates so that all the spirits of fallen Old Ones will escape and destroy the world.  Matt’s job is to keep the old ones from opening the gates. He goes to Peru where the next gate is going to open and He meets another boy like him named Pedro. Pedro is also a gatekeeper.  Matt and Pedro Have a lot in common. At first they fight and don’t get along very well but they get to know each other and they save each others lives eventually. They also saw into the future and saw their families deaths. They both warned their families but neither of them listened and they both got killed. Pedro ended up living in a shanty town and Matt went through several foster homes.

Conflicts: Starstruck

This book had a lot of conflicts. The main character, Miranda, was faced with many problems. One night while attending a dinner party at superstar Bryon Slaters house, her and a friend wandered off to observe the garden and statues. While they were walking Miranda's friend heard a growl but Miranda said she didn't. They walked a couple more steps and a tiger burst out of the bushes but as soon as it did it got tranquilized.

     This story is all about conflicts. Everything they talked about was conflicts and all them involved Bryon Slaters bloodthirsty fan "Starstruck".
     I'll name a few conflicts Miranda had to face and all the secrets she had to keep.
     One day while Miranda was swimming in the pool she suddenly noticed herself all alone. Then she started hearing some one whispering her name. She thought it was just the wind but she was mistaken. She heard her name and quickly glanced over to where it had come from, ten she saw a shadowed figure lurking behind a poolside statue. Suddenly the statue tipped over and fell almost drowning her in the pool. Miranda had to keep this secret for a very long time but eventually she told Bryon. Bryon and Miranda bonded. They talked about their issues and what's going on in their lives but mostly they talked about starstruck and how she might be within the gates of Bryon's estate.
     Another time Miranda was dressing to go to a formal dinner. After she was done dressing she went to put on her bouquet and in the bouquet box was a heart. A raw, bloody, heart. She just forgets about all of what just happened and hoes to the dinner. While she is eating dinner with Bryon, his people, and the other contestants a mob swarms the diner. They think they can escape out the back door but as soon as they leave the mob runs around and attacks Bryon and his bodyguard. His bodyguard was stabbed to death and Bryon gets stabbed too.
     Miranda has no idea what to think now. I think If I was Miranda I would be twisted tighter than a pretzel.  

BOOK-REPORT

Starstruk: Miranda is a teenage girl that wins a contest to get a special week with famous movie star, Bryon Slater. Miranda and two other girls were selected to go to this paradise of a house, but Bryon hates this house. He believes that a crazed fan is out to kill him and that she is in the same house as him. Miranda starts believing that the crazed fan that goes by the name Starstruk is going to kill her to get to Bryon. One day when Miranda is sitting next to the pool a statue falls and almost kills her. She believes that a person pushed it over intentionally trying to hurt her. Then one night Miranda, Bryon, and the the two other girls go to dinner at a private club. When they are about to leave the club fans surround it. Bryon and his bodygaurd get caught in the crowd. Bryon's bodygaurd is killed and he is injured. Then later that night Miranda overhears a conversation between Bryon's publicist and agent. She heard that Bryon's bodygaurd had been stabbed to death in the crowd. The next day Bryon's publicist tells Miranda that she wants to talk to her in private. When Miranda goes up to her room to talk to Peg, the publicist, She finds her body in the hottub on her balcony. Then Miranda get knocked out. She wakes up in a cabin out in the middle of nowhere. She sees two people on either side of the cabin one is Bryon's "friend" Nick and on the other side is Bryon. She sees that they both hold guns in their hands. They start arguing about how Bryon is starstruk and that he did everything to get sympathy. Then one of them fires a shot Miranda gets up and starts running toward the road, but she trips and falls over the gaurdrail. She barely gets ahold of the gaurdrail but now she is dangling over the edge of a shear 200 foot drop. She then sees Nicks face and he tells her to grab his hand and to trust him. As soon as she grabs hold of his hand he lets go but she grabs ahold of a tree root. Then when Miranda looks up she sees Bryon and Nick fighting. Bryon starts pushing Nick over the edge as hes getting pushed over the he reverses the attack and throws Bryon over the edge. Nick then helps Miranda up and brings her back to the house. I guess Bryon really was the bad guy after all.