Theodore Boone Kid Lawyer 12/15/14

Theodore Boone Kid Lawyer
Author: John Grisham
12/15/14
Book Review

        People that would probably like this book the most would be people that are interested in mystery and suspenseful books. It might seem like this book wouldn't be interesting because it wasn't exciting in the very beginning. You might get surprised with the events that come into play and the things that Theo does that could help in the case. I say this book is suspenseful because at various points in the book you are dying to read the next part.

        This book was one of my favorite books that I've read. I mainly liked this book because it had many twist and kept me wanting to read more. I really enjoy books that are suspenseful. I also liked how realistic this book was. I like when the reader can relate to a book. 

        If I had the chance to change something in the story I would be a little more descriptive. I would be more descriptive with the characters appearances and with the setting. I also feel the ending of the book should've had a guilty or not guilty verdict. It basically left you wondering what happened. In my opinion, the defendant was guilty and I wish the author would have stated if he was guilty or not.

Theodore Boone Kid Lawyer 12/9/14

Theodore Boone Kid Lawyer
Author: John Grisham
12/9/14
230-263
Prompt: Compare what is happening to a character in the book with your own or a friend’s life.

        This blog talks about small events in this book. I'll try not to give away too much, but this could possibly spoil parts of the book. Throughout the book Theo and his friends have things that happening in their family or life. For example, Theo gets asked for help a lot by his friends. For these paragraphs I'm going to focus on his friend April and a teacher Miss Gloria.

        Theo and April are best friends and talk to each other every night. During the story April's parents are go through divorce. Later in the story April is living with her mom. She asked Theo for advice and she ask question about the process of this, since Theo knows a lot about the law and court. At the end of the book it mentions that the ruling of which parent April would live with was going to be held the next day. The exact events didn't happen to a friend of mine, but their parents were going to get divorced.

        The next event didn't happen to me or a friend, but a family member. At the end of the book Miss Gloria talked to Theo as he walked in because he was gone. Miss gloria wanted to tell Theo that her brother was stopped the previous night for driving under the influence. Theo asked Miss Gloria questions and told her what to do.

Theodore Boone Kid Lawyer 12/1/14

Theodore Boone Kid Lawyer
Author: John Grisham
12/1/14
90-230
Prompt: Summarize what you just read. Make me want to read it!

Spoiler Alert!

        Before I summarize what I read I will give you a little information about the book and what happened before page 90. The book is about a boy named Theodore Boone who in really interested in trials and wants to be a lawyer. There was a big murder case in town. Mr. Duffy, the alleged murderer, was accused of killing his wife, Mrs. Duffy. The case went to trial; Theo thinks that Mr. Duffy is guilty. The trial so far is going in the Mr. Duffy's favor. 

        At the time trial, Theo was tutoring a boy named Julio. While Theo was tutoring Julio, Julio mentioned that he knew Mr. Duffy was guilty. Theo asked Julio what made him think Mr. Duffy was guilty. Julio's response was shocking. Julio said that his cousin, who is an illegal immigrant, saw Mr. Duffy walking into his house at the time of the murder. Mr. Duffy claims he was playing golf at the time his wife was murdered. Julio's cousin noticed that Mr. Duffy was wearing gloves when he entered the house. Later he saw Mr. Duffy throw the pair of gloves in a bag in the trash. Theo is struggling to figure out what to do with all this information. If he tells the judge the story the cousin gave, the cousin will have to testify. If he testifies, the cousin could be sent back to El Salvador and Mr. Duffy could go to jail.

        Theo told the story to one person only, his uncle Ike. Theo and Ike tried to figure out what to do for days. After talking for a few days, Ike lies to get Theo out of school early. Ike then takes Theo to his parents office to discuss the whole situation. Once Theo and Ike explained the situation they decided to come forward and tell the judge. The judge was at the courthouse conducting the trial.  During a break, Theo, Ike and the parents confronted the judge with this information. Theo, Ike and the parents take a seat in the courtroom to watch the rest of the trial.

Theodore Boone Kid Lawyer 11/17/14

Theodore Boone Kid Lawyer
Author: John Grisham
11/17/14
0-90
Prompt: Is what you are reading believable? Why or why not?

       Theodore Boone is a thirteen year old only child. Theo's mother and his father are both lawyers. His father is a real estate lawyer and his mother a divorce lawyer. Theo is undecided about what he wants to be, one day he wants to be a lawyer and the next a judge. He is fascinated by law. He even has a dog named Judge.

        So far the story is believable. He seems like a typical teenage boy who goes to school and lives in an average home. 

         

New Ending to "The Lady or the Tiger?"

       
Every heart stopped beating, every breath was held, every eye was fixed immovably upon that man. Without the slightest hesitation, he went to the door on the right, and opened it. The man trusted the princess, but still thought he was going to open the door with the ferocious tiger waiting to tear him to pieces. The door slowly opened and the man ran, but the maiden started to walk to the center of the amphitheater where the man was standing.


        The princess left as the maiden started to pace towards the man because she knew her jealousy would take over if she stayed. Before she gave the signal she thought which door should she make the man open. The only reason she didn't have the tiger kill and eat the man was because she couldn't bare to watch her love die. She cried for days because her love was with another woman and not her.

        The king quickly became anxious for his daughter. He decided to have the mans new wife executed for unexplained reasons. The man became very melancholy that his new wife was executed. After that the king had is daughter and the man married. Soon the princess, the man, and the king felt joyful again and they all lived happily ever after.

Edgar Allen Poe Reflection

        Before researching Edgar Allen poe I knew a little about him. I knew that he was a poet and short story writer. I knew Poe wrote poems and stories like "The Raven" and "Tell-Tale Heart." I knew a little about Poe's lifestyle too. I knew Poe was a alcoholic and he married a 14 year old girl when he was 27. I didn't really know about when Poe was born and when he died, so I didn't know what major happened when he was alive. I soon learned all this information about Poe when I did my research.

        In my research I learned many more things about Edgar Allen Poe and what happened in the time period he was alive. I learned about his birth born, his death, his relatives, and his jobs. I saw that Edgar Allen Poe was born in Boston on January 19, 1809 and he died on October 7, 1849. I also found that Poe's death was a mystery. There were many theories of his death, but they can't find out which is true. I found that two of Poe's family died of tuberculosis. His mother and his wife were the people that died. Poe had other jobs before being a poet. He was a writer for many magazines and he was enlisted for the U.S. army.

        I feel like that there was three things that contributed to Edgar Allen Poe's writing. When Poe was little his dad left the family and his mom died. I feel like this is one of the reasons why Poe's writing is how it is. In college Poe excelled in all of his classes, but faced poverty. His new father wanted him to be a businessman, but instead Poe chose to be a poet. Poe's decision to be a poet instead of a businessman lead his new father to give Poe less than of the money Poe needed, which led Poe to be poor. When Poe returned to Richmond he visited his fiancee's house. Poe discovered that his fiancee was engaged with another man. I feel like these three reasons were the main cause for Poe's writing style.

The Klipfish Code #4 11/3/14

The Klipfish Code
Author: Mary Casanova
10/28/14
145-180
Prompt: Differentiate between the setting of what you are reading and where you live.

        The setting in the book is extremely different from where I live. The differences are really obvious to spot in the book. Two of the differences were location and supply availability. Since, the book took place during World War 2 I left out technological advances.

        The first differences is location. The characters in the book are living in a different country. They're are living in Norway, which is far from where I live. Also, in Norway the climate is different. In Norway it's cold and wet and where I live it isn't like that depending on the season.

        The second difference is the supplies available for that area. In the book the country has almost no food, drinks, blankets, etc. In Norway the Nazi's took most supplies from houses in the conquered areas. Also, in some places the building were blown up and the areas was filled will debris and dust. In my country nothing is like that.

The Klipfish Code #3

The Klipfish Code
Author: Mary Casanova
10/28/14
92-145
Prompt:Predict what will happen next.

        In the story I left off with a resistance soldier telling Marit a plan. Marit had to travel to the other side of the island. Marit and Lars are rowing without anybody, but the resistance soldier knowing what they're doing. They did get stopped by a soldier, but what happened was surprising.

        Based off of what I just read I predict that when Marit gets to the other side of the island they will be stopped and questioned by a Nazi. Another thing that I think might happen is it will get dark and Nazi's might start shooting at them. The final thing I think might happen is Marit will forget what to do and the plan won't work.

        I said they might get stopped because in the book the Nazi's stopped Marit and Lars a few times, so I feel like it will happen again. When this happens I feel like Lars might say something he shouldn't supposed to say. I think they might get shot at because in the book a Nazi told Marit and Lars to get out of their boat when they were saving the resistance soldier. The Nazi told them to get out because they might get shot at if they kept rowing. Lastly, I said Marit might forget the plan because she has to worry about a lot. She has to make sure Lars doesn't say anything he isn't supposed to, she has to think of what to say if she's stopped, and she has to worry about Lars and her uncle worrying about where they are.

The Klipfish Code #2

The Klipfish Code
Author: Mary Casanova
10/22/14
78-92

Prompt: Evaluate whether the title fits the story.

        For what I read so far I don't see how the title fits the story. I'm still not at the middle of the book, so many things can happen that can make the tittle fit the story. I can see how the tittle might fit
the story later in the book.

        If the tittle does fit the story it might be a huge part of the story. From what I read on the back I can see how the tittle might fit the story. It said Marit is going to try to help a Resistance soldier and she puts herself, her brother, and the soldier in danger. It also said, "But will her plan work? Can she really complete her part of this secret code?"

        My guess is the tittle is the code the book told us about. I think that she has a plan, but to complete the plan she needs to know this code. I would have to read more of the book to find this out. Overall, the tittle so far doesn't fit the story.

Banned Book Week Vlog

1st Quarter Reflection

        My first quarter wasn't really that easy. The classes were harder and there was a lot more homework. The transition from summer to the school year was really rough. Although these classes were hard I did learn many skills.

        I learned many skills in my first quarter. I learned how to annotate and write essential questions. I learned what denotation and connotation is and how to write a proper paragraph. I improved my researching skills and learned about what is going on in the world.

       

The Klipfish Code #1

The Klipfish Code
Author: Mary Casanova
0-78

MAY SPOIL PARTS OF BOOK

        "But we belong here - with you and Mama... You said, Papa, that 'we'll get through this,' remember? why can't we stay together?" This is a part of a paragraph that help me understand how much Marit loved her parents. In the book I can understand what Marit and her brother, Lars, feel at certain points. Most of the time the author directly tells you how they felt. The other times the author hints at it.

        At the beginning of the book I can tell that Marit was scared and curious about what is happening around her. Later in the book when Marit and Lars are separated from their parents I can tell she didn't want to leave them. There is more characterization throughout, but another one that stand out is she is an animal lover. They have a friend who got a dog Marit and Lars instantly fell in love with it. Also, the wanted to save a seal pup that was covered in oil. The biggest and most obvious characterization is she hates the Nazis. The whole book is about her trying to stop the Nazis.

        Lars's personality is the same as Marits. Even if they're related he is almost exactly like Marit. He is a huge animal lover, misses his parents, hates Nazis, he was scared and the beginning. The only this that might be different is that he's lazy. At the beginning of the book even with what was going on around him he wouldn't wake up and go to the cellar.

Million-Dollar Throw

Million-Dollar Throw
Prompt: Explain how you have been surprised by what you are reading.
220-244(end)

SPOILER ALERT!
SPOILER ALERT!
SPOILER ALERT!
SPOILER ALERT!
SPOILER ALERT!
SPOILER ALERT!

          When I was reading Million-Dollar Throw something that really surprised me is what Nate did with his one million dollars. I thought Nate would have used the money to support his family because his dad lost his job and they might lose their house. I also thought he might use the money for something for football or himself. Instead Nate used the money for something that I never what have thought that he would use the million dollars for.

           Nate used the money to help his friend Abby. Abby had a eye disease where she slowly loses eyesight. Abby would have to move and go to a new school because of her eye disease. If that happened Nate wouldn't see her anymore. Nate knew this all, so in advance he searched up doctors that can fix her eye problems. Nate would soon use as much money needed to pay the doctor he found to fix Abby's eyes.

          That action that Nate made really caught me by surprise. The author, Mike Lupica, didn't give any hints in the book that Nate would do this. None of the characters including Abby didn't know that Nate would make this decision. That is why this really surprised me while reading the book.

Book List Challenge

No specific order

1. Wonder by R.J. Palacio

Wonder is one of my favorite books because of the lesson I learned and it helped me understand what bullying felt like. I learned that you can't just judge someone by their looks, you have to talk to them. Most people didn't go by the character, August, but Summer did. The other characters hoped not to work with him or didn’t want to be near him. August was also bullied. Students would make fun of him and talk behind his back. What I think was the worst was the students making up a game where if August touched them they had the August touch and they were infected with a virus. The concept of the game was kinda like the cheese touch from Dairy of a Wimpy Kid.

2. I Survived series by Lauren Tarishis
I like the I Survived series because they help me understand every disaster better and from a first person point of view. I am really interested in disasters and this helps me learn more about them. Some are about war which I also love. My favorite one is The San Francisco Earthquake, 1906. I only read 6 out of the 9 books.

3. A Tale Dark & Grimm (A Tale Dark & Grimm #1) by Adam Gidwitz

This was an interesting book to read. What's interesting about the book is how it is the original version of a childhood story, it is so different and gruesome. The book is about the real story of Hansel & Gretel. When reading the book you would never think of it as being a kids story.

4. My Side of the Mountain by Jean Craighead George
This book was very different. When you read the book you feel like you know the Sam and his bird Frightful. At the end something happens and when I got to it, it made me feel sorry for Sam. This book teaches a little about surviving, too.







5. Goosebumps Series by R.L. Stine
I really enjoyed these series of books. I liked them so much mainly because they were my favorite genre; scary. One day I would like to read all the books in this series. The way a R.L. Stine used descriptive words made the book creepy. My favorite book is A Day in Horrorland.




6. Diary of a Wimpy Kid Series by Jeff Kinney
These books didn't really teach me anything, but they are a fun to read. They weren't at my level when I read them, but I just read them for fun. The only ones I didn't read were The Third Wheel and Hard Luck. I read these book for a little laugh and I will most likely read the new books for fun. My favorite book is Cabin Fever.






7. Maniac Magee by Jerry Spinelli
This book is one of my favorite books because of the creativity, uniqueness, and humorous traits. This book is a fun book to read. I would recommend it to kids. Jerry Spinelli used very descriptive words to help the reader imagine what's happening. I saw the movie and read the book, so I recommend reading the book before watching the movie.



8. Finding Zasha by Randi Barrow
I personally love this book. It's a book that will leave you wondering what will happen next. SPOILER ALERT! The book takes place in the German Siege and the main character is a boy name Ivan. He wants to steal 2 German shepherd puppies, (Zasha and Thor) because he's afraid of their worst fate. He gets both dogs, but Zasha disappears. That leaves him with 2 important choices such as finding Zasha and risking everything the members of the Nazi's worked for or saving himself and Thor.


9. Mr. Popper's Penguins by Richard and Florence Atwater
This is a really funny book. It is a lower level book, but I still enjoyed reading it. This is also another book that I think that kids will really enjoy. They also have a movie that is really funny, so I highly recommend it. This book is also really creative.






10. War Dogs and Other Tales of Courageous Canines by Joanne Mattern
I really like this book because it involves 2 of my favorite subjects; war/disaster and dogs. This book is a really good book in my opinion. You can learn about things that happen at places and how service dogs work. For example, at an airport how a dog will react to drugs or weapons that they find, in debris, avalanches, etc. and how they would signal if they found survivor. This book is very informational.

About the Author

Hello, my name is Joseph and I'm in 7th grade. One of my hobbies are sports. I love playing and watching sports especially baseball, basketball, football, and hockey. I play baseball yearly, play basketball at my school, and play flag football with my dad and his friends. Some of my favorite sports teams are Blackhawks, Bears, Bulls, and Cubs

In my free time I join clubs dealing with technology like Coding club or Robotic. Another thing I like to do is sing and act, so I join musicals. I love to play video games. When I'm home all I do is watch video game gameplay and play video games.

Books that I like to read are horror/scary, realistic fiction, and sports. I am currently reading Million-Dollar Throw by Mike Lupica. It is one of my favorite book and written by one of my favorite authors. I also enjoy reading Stephen King books.