May 10th, 2010- Apple Island or The Truth About Teachers
Bradley changes from the beginning to the end of the story by his attitude. He is very frustrated with school and teachers in the beginning of the book but saves good teachers at the end. He becomes happier and not so moody at the end of the book.
The problem of the story gets solved by Bradley saving all the good prisoners on Apple Island and by him saving people from becoming 'dumb'.
Reading Response- April 22nd, 2010
Freedom Crossing- March 10,2010
Laura changed the most in the story. Before Martin (young boy slave-12) was helped by Joel Todd and Laura's brother into her house, Laura was pretty much against slaves because her aunt and uncle hated slaves so she disliked-not hated- but disliked black people. At the end of the story, she ends up helping Martin to escape to Tryon's Folley a house that is part of the Underground Railroad because of how she slowly feels really bad for Martin and other slaves. Some of the things that helped change Laura's mind were: Reading "Uncle Tom's Cabin" which really moved her; her brother persuading her to help Martin escape and last but not least, inside, she knew it was the right thing to do.
The problem of the story was resolved by faith and trust. Joel Todd had sent her a note giving hints that slaves were in Tryon's Folly- this was the note.
March 2, 2010- 38 Weeks till Summer Vacation
The main people who changed were Jimmy Lee and Nora Jean. Like I said, In the beginning of the book, Nora Jean wanted the year to end as quickly as possible. At the end though, she enjoyed being in 4th grade and felt the opposite of what she felt at the beginning of the year. She also changed because she had a BFF (best friend forever) and a BF (best friend). She thought she was "best friends" with Thomasina- A very pretty girl who never ever got teased, she was also very popular. Thomasina was a little bossy but nevertheless, Nora Jean admired her. Nora Jeans best friend was Rosalie Chester who was always nice to her and everyone else. She was fat though that's why she got teased by Jimmy Lee. At the end of the book when Thomasina says "Help me carry my things. You can come back for your stuff later" Nora Jean said, "Do it yourself, Thomasina. I'm busy." Which just shows that she didn't care for Thomasina anymore. She also started liking school because Jimmy Lee was being nice to her and saved her life when she choked on pizza. Speaking of pizza, Jimmy Lee changed. As I told you, he used to be very mean and tease many people, but when his class had a pizza party and Nora Jean choked on her pizza, Jimmy Lee saved her life by pushing her stomach in and doing some precedure he saw in a magazine. He started being nice to everyone after that. But how did he suddenly become nice? That I don't know. It's a good question though.
The problem of the story was that Jimmy Lee kept making fun of Nora Jean and sometimes Rosalie and stole things from Nora Jean. She wanted to get back at him for all the mean things he had done to Rosalie and her. It got resolved by the pizza party (in the library) when Nora Jean choked and Jimmy Lee saved her and became nice to her. She was nice to him as well. I have a prediction: maybe Jimmy Lee had earlier problems in life which made him become a bully only because he felt bad for himself. I'm glad everything worked out between Nora Jean and Jimmy Lee at the end though. I think the authors message is to not bully others but just have fun.
Clean Break Reading Response/ December 14, 2009
I have just finished reading a book called Clean Break by Jacqueline Wilson. This book was very touching and very sweet. Sometime’s things can happen and you don’t expect them to. Em~ the main character was very nice trying to comfort her family even when she felt bad that her step dad moved out. I can relate to that because my friend comforted me when both of us felt bad about an argument with another friend. This connection made me understand what the author was trying to tell me and helped me understand the story. This is a Just Right book for me because I can comprehend the story and there were a few words that I didn’t know.
On Christmas eve, Frankie (Ems step dad) tries to make everyone as happy as possible before telling them he’s moving out. Em eavesdrops a conversation on the phone between Frankie and his other girlfriends saying that he’s going to move out soon. Everyone gets to know about it and is extremely sad. Vita and Maxie Frankies real children miss him and so does Em and her mom. Frankie visited but it was awkward for Ems mom when he did and he would take Em, Maxie and Vita out to carnivals. One day, Frankie takes them out without telling their mom (his wife) and Ems mom gets so worried she calls the police. They came back before the police found them and Ems mom says that they should have a clean break~ meaning not seeing each other again.
Months pass and Frankie misses them so much he comes back and they become one big happy family again because Ems mom misses him too. I think that the author should have made the book make more sense because people just don’t leave their house and then say sorry about it but still leave their house. I think the moral of the story is that don’t leave your family because you can always count on them and you love them more than anyone in the world.