The Misadventures of Edgar and Allan Poe 8/17/14

Pages Read: 118-End
Prompt: Summarize what you just read

     After Edgar and Allan realized that the Wizard of Oz tourist spot was a big trap for them, they tried to disguise themselves and  find their cat. The plan was to find Roderick, their cat, and get out of their as soon as possible. They slipped past their grandparents and went into a theater where they slipped into flying monkey costumes for the live play of the Wizard of Oz.

     The first time during rehearsal they managed to slip away from the other group of monkeys and started exploring the barn and house out of the theater for their cat. When they got back in the play started and they didn't hook themselves to a rope. Then, all the other monkeys were flying and they were left behind. Moments later two trapdoors collapsed beneath the two and they were met by the professor that wanted to kidnap them. He had a pistol out and ready to shoot when Edgar and Allan started whistling ring around a rosy to make him move to the strings. Roderick cut the strings and a bag fell on the Professor's head and knocked him out unconscious.

     After Edgard and Allan escaped they called the police and they were congratulated by the city mayor and even the governor. After they got back home they were asked to do a movie and star as Edgar Allan Poe's younger self. They agreed if they're cat got a role and he did. But, there was a newspaper saying that the Professor broke out of the hospital and became conscious again. The police said he was armed and dangerous. Could he be the movie directer? I don't know, read the next book to find out.  

     

The Misadventures of Edgar and Allen Poe 8/16/14

Prompt: What 3 questions would you ask the main character(s)
Pages Read:1-117

     First I would ask Edgar and Allen Poe how did they manage to pull of some of the pranks without getting caught? Edgar and Allen Poe were pretty much two bodies, one mind. They were also big troublemakers. They were also really smart, they knew more than their seventh grade teachers.But they did stuff like once turn off the power grid for the whole city. Also, changing the GPS of the school bus to lead them to a mini golfing place instead of the original place they were going to. But how, since they needed access to the school bus, they could try wireless but were banned from cell phones and computers since the whole city power incident. Well I guess that's just a mistake.

     I would also ask how did Edgar Allen Poe know what was going to happen to the twins next. i mean I know he's above earth and can kind of see/hear all. But how did he know the twin's physical status? All through the twin's lives they've been getting messages that were always true. One of them said that bats would swing and go flying or something similar to that and when they tried out for baseball they couldn't hang on to the bats. They kept going flying out of their hands. Maybe Edgar Allen Poe knows a lot more about them by some mysterious means I don't know yet.

     The last thing I would ask is what would the twin's experience if another twin died. Since they can see, hear, and experience everything else the other twin is feeling/doing. This was brought up by a crazy professor that wanted to kidnap Edgar and Allen Poe. He said he merely wanted to have control over them. To kill one off and have an exclusive look at the afterlife. I mean I don't blame him. It's one of life's biggest mysteries. What happens after you die? I really wouldn't want to see one of the main characters die off but then again, it would be interesting.

Click Here (To find out how I survived the seventh grade) 8/11/14

Pages Read: 100- End
Prompt: What are three emotions that the main character has felt? What made the main character feel that way?

     One of the emotions that the character has felt was stress. The school website was supposed to launch soon and a lot of people didn't have their parts done. Especially Erin since she had to help other people out with their parts. So she stood up until midnight for about 2-3 days and had to try and finish her part while trying to prepare having to leave the play to give someone her part for the website. She felt another emotion after she realized what she had really given to be published on the website for the whole school to see.

   Erin felt huge embarrassment after seeing that the personal blogs she was writing had been published. How she talked about she liked a boy and sometimes hated her best friend, Jilly. Also what she thought of Serena, (basically her bully). Also Erin typed in a poem that a boy who liked her sent her. Calling him a bit nerdy too. After that, she kept getting calls/voice mails talking about her blog that got posted. Some from her victims. She was embarrassed because she was talking about kissing pillows and her love life. Now the whole school had seen it.

     Erin felt sorrow after that whole catastrophe. She realized some stuff she had written was in the spur of the moment and she regretted. Everyone thought that's what Erin thought of them. So she lost 4 of her friends. Erin really felt sorry and tried to apologize by writing letters to each of her "victims" and trying to explain that she was really sorry. After that, everyone forgave her and happy ending.

Click here (To find out how I survived the seventh grade) 8/9/14

Pages Read: 1-100
Prompt: What was the three most interesing parts of your reading?

     I think that an interesting part of the story is when Erin, the main character, found out her best friend Jilly wasn't in the same as her. Tracks are pretty much A and B for heritage but the school Erin goes to has three, A, B, and C. Jilly was in A and Erin was in C. I thought it was pretty interesting because the author got the "hook" part of the story. Where they create something to kind of get your attention at the beginning. So from page 1 there's a problem. Since Erin's only friend was Jilly and were only separated once in elementary.

     I find another part interesting is when she goes to the bathroom on the first day of school a snotty girl comes in that neither Jilly nor Erin like. Her name was Serena Worthington. She loved to bully Erin and now that she was on her own she decided she was prefect prey. She started saying that Jilly was Geppetto and Erin was a Pinocchio, a puppet. Erin snapped and punched Serena in the face landing her a three day detention on her first day at school. This was the most iunteresting because it impacted the rising action a lot. It caused posters of her to go up as Pinocchio and constantly be bullied. But, she also made new friends.

     I think another interesting part was when Erin joined the Intranet Club. Their goal was to make a website for the school and Erin was excited to join and started getting a little skeptical because her and Jilly always did clubs together. But her new friends she made Rosie and Mark convinced her to join it. This made her meet new people and take up a club she wanted to do. I say wanted because Jilly kind of forces Erin to join plays with her every year.

 

Loser 5/12/14

Pages Read: 109-End

Prompt: After reading, I wonder…

     I wonder what happened afterwards. When the end was nearing fifth grade also ending. So, Gary Hobins, the fastest runner in the school, told Donald Zinkoff to get off of the Yellow team. Gary got stuck with Donald on field day in fourth grade and he lost it for them. Donald didn't get it because when he got the only A on a geography test everybody was high fiving him and calling him the Zinkmeister and other nicknames, including Gary Hobin. So, when Field Day came around Donald ditched school. He went to the old lady's home and told her everything. Then the story progresses through middle school and during Winter, the old lady's daughter got lost. He went out searching for hours until he saw a light and blacked out. He awoke to find that he was being searched for himself. The little girl was found at 8 pm, Donald was found freezing cold at 1-2 am in the morning. He got grounded and after that things went to normal. It ended with a football game and the leaders picking people and one of the leaders was interested about Zinkoff's story so he picked him.

     I wonder whether Donald was cool and popular after that. Maybe not popular and cool was intended to be a pun because it was in Winter. But seriously, since his story was spread around a lot of people might've gotten interested. I think Donald was popular to a point, than forgotten. Which is really sad to think about. One day he's so cool high fiving everyone. The next, he's treated like a nobody, confused as to why it happened. But he'll most likely gain at least 1 distant or close friend.

     Another ending, I guess you could call it that, would be that Donald gets sick of the attention. Don't get me wrong, everybody loves attention. But, maybe he's just sick of it. Or maybe Donald realizes that the people are only interested in his adventure and not him. I'm thinking Andrew might become his friend again. Or maybe just wants to hear the story which is more likely. It even said in the end of the book. The only reason why He called Donald to his team was because he was interested in hearing what happened. When you really think about the ending to a book, sometimes you find that the main character will still struggle one way or another.

40 Book Challenge

     I did not finish the 40 book challenge but got close. I really liked doing it because it gave me an excuse to reread all of Harry Potter again. Also, most of the books I have read counted as 2 if i was going by the certain amount of pages rule. But, to be honest, I didn't count them as 2 because that would involve me to find all the books I've read and see if it was 2 or not. But I still got pretty close with 32 books read overall. I think the most challenging thing about the 40 book challenge is probably expanding to different genres. Of all the books I've read, I think that they were a pretty good level/caliber for me, excluding some books like Diary of a Wimpy Kid and some others. 

     I think the 40 Book Challenge should continue. it really is a good experience and kind of motivates you to read more books. Also, I liked the reminders so no kid could say that he or she had forgot about it. It's also nice to try and explore with new genres. So you can describe your experience or maybe even get a new favorite genre. It was definitely interesting trying to read new books even if you think they're boring at first. The 40 Book Challenge was fun, I'd do it again.

Loser 5/6/14

Pages Read: 50-109
Prompt: Describe the most important event. Give at least three reasons why you think it
is the most important event.

     I think that the beginning and end of fourth grade was the most memorable for Zinkoff. For one reason he finally gets discovered. The fourth grade teacher is the first male and his name is Mr. Yalowitz. Whilst assigning everyone their seats he notices Donald's last name, Zinkoff. Mr. Yalowitz tells Donald about how he was always been last and now he'll make it reverse alphabetized so he doesn't have to feel like the teacher felt.

     Another reason is that the kids are getting their "big eyes". Which basically mean that kids are getting more emotional depth and can pay attention to detail. They start to notice that Zinkoff isn't as funny or cool as they thought him to be. They find him to be clumsy, too giggly, and messy. Then as activities and other thing start to go on during fourth grade, they start to find him annoying. Which is really what provked them on Field day.

     Speaking of Field day, that's the last reason I'm giving. During Field day all the 1st, 2nd, and 3rd, graders play for fun. But fourth and fifth graders play for winning and losing. So when Donald is slow, and clumsy. Well, running races isn't very productive. The purple team, the one Donald was on, was barely winning because of their last player, Gary Hobin. When the last normal running race occurs, Zinkoff is the last one, or anchor. So, when Gary finds this out, he gets mad and tells Zinkoff not to lose the lead he's giving him. So when they lose all gary gets mad and calls him a loser. Then everyone else joins in and asks why he had to participate in all the activities and called him a loser. Which is the title of the book.