Crank 4/28-5/2

Pages: 210 out of 540
Prompt Miscellaneous: Describe your least favorite character and explain why. Describe your favorite character and explain why.

                     Introduction to Crank 

      I heard about this book last year from Mrs. McMahon. I wanted to read it but she mentioned that it was better to read in 7th or 8th Grade. The book starts off with the life of a middle schooler named Kristina. This girl is a straight A- student, she never gets in trouble, but feels subsided after her she hasn't seen her father for over eight years. Kristina's mother decides to let her stay with her father for a month or so in order to have experience with a male role model. I think that they mention that Kristina lives in California while her father lives in Albuquerque, New Mexico. This place is described as the kingdom of her father but at least Kristina will get used to it. She meets a boy named Adam a.k.a Buddy who teaches her to start using Crank. The crank is some sort of drug which is described as the monster. Kristina feels like heaven on earth when she tries it but she doesn't realize that the drug is separating her from the real world. In her mind the alternative or evil version of Kristina called Bree is taunting her.


                  The Least Favorite Character

     The book doesn't go to much in depth with the supporting characters, but after reading a few pages I feel like the character I don't like very much is Kristina's father. In past books and movies I've heard about dads abandoning their children which makes the personality of this character not so new to me. I dislike the character because instead of taking care of his daughter he goes off and gambles with the local men. In my opinion I feel that if Kristina's father would have taken care of her during her visit, she wouldn't have started doing crank. I feel like he doesn't deserve to be a parent, I can just imagine his behavior before he divorced his wife. I think that the main reason that Kristina started doing crank was because she was alone or for a simple reason her boyfriend told her to do it. If she was alone I blame it all on the dad. I mean sure her mother works a lot but at least she doesn't spend her hours gambling with local strangers.

                My Favorite Character

   The first 200 pages didn't introduce too many characters except for Kristina, her mom, her dad, her brother, her sister, Scott, and Adam. I think that my favorite character is Scott the stepfather of Kristina, a more responsible parent. When we think of stepfathers we must think of evil people who only care about money ruining families. Scott compared to the other stepfathers introduced in movies or books her seems like a nice person. He kills himself everyday in order to make sure that their is food on the table unlike Kristina's father who goes to Mickey D's everyday. The book doesn't include too many specific details about Scott but they do mention that he gets along with everybody in the family. I think that Scott makes a great dad mostly because he doesn't tease or bully Kristina's sister about her emotional issues.

I included a picture of a monster that might look like the being inside of Kristina. In the book Kristina describes crank a.k.a the drug as a monster. This monster not only damages her physically but also mentally. It seems that the monster took form an alternative Kristina named Bree, the evil twin of the honorable Kristina. Bree and Kristina remind me of the video game characters Mario and Wario.

        This week I will comment on Leanna, Steven, and Gabe's Blogs. 

Peeled 4/20-4/24

Pages: 247 out of 247 (finished)
Prompt Test Readiness: Compare whether you like to live to the setting described in what you are reading

                         Introduction to Peeled 

         This book has to do with the life of a young teenage reporter Hildy Biddle. Hildy is a field reporter for her high school newspaper the Core. Her little town of Banesville is getting darker and darker by the minute surrounding the mysteries of the old Ludlow house. This small town's economy depends of apple growers because without apples the town would turn into dust. The murders are increasing in this small town and all of those victims are connected to the Ludlow houses. The Core's competing newspaper company the Bee is trying to throw the Core out of business. Every time a person dies in the Ludlow house menacing signs are being put up in that creepy old house. Hildy has to worry about the Core running out of business, a corrupt mayor, family homes being destroyed, and the mysterious Ludlow ghost.


                 I would Definitely like to live in Banesville.

   I would really like to live in that small town mostly because my favorite fruit is the apple and it reminds me of my native country. The people in this fictional town make a living by growing apples, making applesauce to sell, and owning an apple orchard. When Hildy describes apples in the books she says "the apples are the core of our existence". The sad about this town is that it deals with a lot of corrupt leaders like the mayor. The mayor plans to destroy family homes and ranches in order to make a haunted amusement park in order to bring in more tourists. I deny this because in my opinion having a ranch that is growing life is better than some lame amusement park. The book mentions that every single family in this town has a ranch of apples which helps them sell in the farmer's market. This is the main reason why I would like to live in this small town because it would great to sell in a fresh farmer's market.

               Banesville Reminds of Mexico

  The small town described in the book truly reminds me of the city I go to in Mexico. In Banesville everybody knows each other because it's so small. In Durango Mexico the same thing happens because people are actually friendly with their neighbors. The other reason is that Banesville has a farmer's market with fresh foods but the only difference is that the market in the story only sells apples. Their is something similar in Mexico but mostly in the markers over there they sell peppers, spices, and fruits like guava. Since I visit Mexico almost every year if I would live in this fictional town I would probably enjoy spending the rest of my life in Banesville. If I were to live Banesville it would remind me a little bit about the wonders of Mexico instead of living in a manufacturing city. The only thing that bugs me about actually living in this city is constant behavior of corrupt leaders trying to pollute the land and ruin our way of life.

It seems that apples symbolize a lot to the residents of Banesville mostly because it's their way of life. I mentioned before that Hildy says "the apple is the core of our existence". In the book many farmers make a living by creating applesauce, apple pie, and apple cider to sell in the fresh market. The competing fruit against the apple in the book is the peach which attracts customers with its peach cobbler.

                    This week I will comment on Citalli, Nadrian, and Julia's  Blogs. 

I Am Malala 4/14-4/18

Pages: 310 out of 310 (finished)
Prompt Miscellaneous: Describe a character that you would like to meet ( 4 questions)


                   Introduction to I Am Malala

    This week I started and finished reading the biography by the famous girl named Malala. The book starts off with Malala explaining her assassination attempt and the pain that she felt of letting her country down. The first few chapters contribute to the life and difficult situation of her parents mostly her dad Ziauddin. Her father's goal was to construct a school in which everyone should be able to go especially girls because of their inability to do anything in Pakistan. Ziauddin lived a poor life filled with hunger and terrible conditions at home. His house was falling apart but luckily he started a family in which he would never let them down. The book gives us a brief explanation about the life of Malala's mother which includes her lack of knowledge due to not being able to get an education. The chapters talk about the Taliban taking control of Malala's hometown Swat which includes her family leaving Swat surrounding the dangers of Ziauddin or Malala being killed.


                  The Perfect Character and Person of the World: Malala

    I would personally like to meet the "character" a.k.a person Malala in order to discuss with her my personal opinion about the peace on Earth. This "character" is very interesting because of her bravery and courage to fight against the Taliban. The Taliban were bombing schools and killing hundreds of girls because of them going to school. Malala spoke out to the media about her plan to make everyone in the world go to school no matter their race, sex, or background information. She even refused security guards to accompany her because he preferred to walk alone in a journey of success. This part of the book was very inspiring because of how much courage a girl of fifteen years old can have. The security part told us a little bit about her beliefs and religion. She mentioned in the book that she refuses to have security because as long as she has faith in god she will be alright.

                      The Questions that might make Malala happy.

   Another thing I wanted to mention is that Malala could change the world with only a few words something that politicians can never know how to do. When she speaks off making sure of something to her people she delivers it like a package. For example when she promised that everyone will be able to go to school that actually happened but until 2015. This is very inspiring and interesting that a little girl can keep her promises unlike politicians that promise nothing. If I ever got the chance to meet Malala I would help with her campaign. It would be simple she would help people in Africa, Asia and Europe while I try to help North America, South America, and Australia. The questions that I would ask Malala are:

1. How does it feel to be the youngest nominee for the Nobel Peace Prize?

2. Did you get excited to find out that you were the Runner-Up for Person of the Year?

3. How many prize or awards have you gained over the past year since your assassination attempt?

4. Have you ever visited Mexico? Did you find that Mexico will be giving you prize this year?

This picture shows Birmingham England the current resident of Malala. In the book they mention that Malala was flown into Birmingham in order to save her life after the shooting. The doctors in Pakistan didn't have the right materials to make Malala like new so a British doctor took the responsibility as a guardian of Malala. The city described as a wonder land but you can never get rid off the beauty of your hometown. This was also the place where Malala discovered Nutella sandwiches.


    This week I will comment on Carlos, Gustavo , and Nikolas's Blogs.

      

The Notorious Benedict Arnold 4/7-4/11

Pages: 352 out 352 (finished)
Prompt Test Readiness: Discuss what images appear in your mind as you read or how the author helped create those images.

                           Introduction to The Notorious Benedict Arnold 
 
        This book is more like an informational piece instead of an actual biography mostly because this book is filled with a bunch of adventure. It starts off with the author describing how a local hero turned into the most infamous villain of American history. The author first mentions that their is actually six Benedict Arnolds. The first one was a sailor from England, the second a fool who lost all of the family's money, the third one a barrel maker, the fourth a successful merchant, the fifth a baby who died after just ten months of being born, and the worst of all the villain Benedict Arnold born on January 14, 1741. At age ten Benedict used to cause a bunch of a pranks and he was known as being very patient throughout the town. The early childhood and teenage years of Benedict talk about how a dirty apprentice turned out to be the most famous hero in the Colonies of America. George Washington once quoted "The Merit of this gentlemen is certainly great. I heartily wish that fortune may distinguish him as one of her favorites".


                 The Dark Times of the Revolution and the Horrifying Images of War

   After the author finished up with the teenage years of Benedict he starts to mention the many battles that Benedict fought in. I imagined that they were going to give a brief description of the battles but they actually mention many horrifying specific details. In the Battle of Quebec Benedict and his men are planning to attack the British in order to take over Canada. The British surprise Benedict by blasting cannons at the men's faces. When I read this part of the book I had an image of men losing their limbs dying in the battle ground while I was also picturing the greediness of King George III. The author mentions in the book that "these men were not able to pour out imagination neither by breathing element 8". When I thought about this the element with the number 8 is oxygen so it popped into my head that these men where dead. The imagination part created a picture in my mind that the soldier's limbs were shot off in front of everyone.

          The Disappointed Images of Benedict's betrayal

  The last chapter was very suspending because I wanted to find out the true cause of Benedict betraying his country. You see Congress and the Board of Philadelphia never appreciated Arnold for the hard work he did to help his country. Later on George started to lose faith in Benedict which also cost Arnold to become a traitor. When I thought of this chapter images of a river by location near a house that looked like Jefferson's Monticello. I also had an image of Benedict shooting back to the many officers that tried to catch him before he escaped by boat. The last image I had was off Benedict living a poor life and even the British rejecting of his failure to conquer West Point. The author made me think this because he mentions in the book that even King George III didn't want anything to do with Arnold. This helped me create the image because of the kind doesn't like Arnold it obviously means that no one in England will hire Arnold as a chief officer for the British Army.

This images shows a memorial in Philadelphia  depicting the location of where Benedict Arnold injured his knee while escaping from the British. If you can see there is nowhere near the image the name Benedict Arnold. In the last pages of the book the author mentions that National Parks and Memorials agreed never to put the name Benedict Arnold in a memorial. This is kind of representing the hatred we have for Arnold even after hundreds of years have passed since his betrayal .



                   

      This week I will comment on Jenna, Bela, and Gabe's Blogs