8th grade summer readers responses
Thank you to those who have already submitted a readers response. Remember, everyone is required to read Dark Sons by Nikki Grimes and 4 additional books from the middle school summer reading list which is available on the MSS website and can be accessed here: Middle School Summer Reading List.
First off, congratulations to Alice Constantine for being the first 8th grader to submit their readers response. Great job, Alice!
Book: Dark Sons
Author: Nikki Grimes
Submitted: June 27
Review: AC
This week I read Dark Sons by Nikki Grimes. The main characters in the book are Sam and Ishmael, they are brothers because they have the same father. Sam can't believe it when his father leaves the family to marry another woman. This woman is also white and he is kind of a slave so that create problems. Sam is very upset because he thought him and his dad were close. Ishmael is his father's first son. But then Ishmael father meets people and these people tell his father that Sarah will give birth to a son, and she has been waiting for one. Then the baby comes and they name him Isaac. All of these people are in a way related to Abraham. But Ishmael is worried that the baby is coming. But both these characters can relate to each other because their father theft them, so they feel abandoned. But this whole book is kind of like a bible story and God plays a role in the book.
The quote I chose is “ Who can I trust?”. This quotes fits into the book because Sam feels so much betrayal from his father leaving. Now Sam doesn’t know how he can trust. He’s not even sure if Gods on his side. Ishmael almost feels the same because his father left too. Tis is how the quote fits into the book.
Book: Highway Cats
Author: Janet Taylor Lisle
Submitted: July 6
Review: AC
This week I read Highway Cats by Janet Taylor Lisle. This book is about three kittens that want to save their forest. They are all cats who sit in alleys and eat dumpster food there not really upper-class kittens and cats. There are seven cats Shredder, Murry the claw, Jolly Roger, Khalia, and the three kittens. None of the cats pay any attention to the kittens because they think that the kittens are small and useless. Then one of the older cats shredder kind of helps the kittens. The kittens bring all the cats together all seven of them to save the forest. You will have to read the book to see if they save the forest and if the cats make it out okay.
The quote I chose is “Did we do it?” (Page 60). This quote fits into the book because not everybody is on board. They all have doubts and still think the kittens are useless and small. Everybody is starting to care about each other at least that’s what they’re saying, but I think that everybody really doesn’t. In my option, it feels like everybody’s unsure. But I really enjoyed the book because it was interesting and I really wanted to know what was going to happen to the cats.
Book: Knots in My Yo-Yo String
Author: Jerry Spinelli
Submitted: July 6
Review: AN
This week I read Knots In My Yo-Yo String by Jerry Spinelli. I picked this book from the summer reading list because I felt like it had an interesting name. But as I read the book, I realized it wasn't what I thought the book was going to be about. The book is an autobiography, meaning it's a book about himself. So the book basically talks about his life when he was about 5 years old to when he is a senior in High School. The story takes place in Pennsylvania.
Jerry described himself as a reading “goody two shoes” boy who loves playing sports, and enjoys nature. Jerry also has a younger brother named Bill and they both have a dog named Lucky, who later dies in the story. Jerry lived in a red brick second floor house. Later he moved to the West End 802 George Street where he lives there until he’s 16. In this time period movies were black and white, and there was segregation towards black people. Later on in the book when Jerry goes to high school he meets his future wife, Judy Pierson. They went to school dances together, Saturdays they went to church, and later on they got married. Would you read another book from this genre? I think I might read another autobiography because I liked how they gave lots of detail from when they were young to when they got older. I would also read another autobiography because I liked the way he looks back in time and how he has a different point of view.
Book: Dark Sons
Author: Nikki Grimes
Submitted: July 7
Review: SL
This summer I read the book Dark Sons by Nikki Grimes. This book was amazing It was about these to two boys who names are Sam and Ishmael and they relate to each other because they both were living similar lives.
So for Ishmael father was Abraham and was married to Sarah, but sarah couldn’t have a child and she had told abraham to go have a child with the maid-servant to give abraham a child. When Ishmael was born sarah hated him and his mother. Everyday she would gave ishmael the meanest look ever. Ishmael and abraham had the best father and son bond ever. But then Ishmael heard the news that sarah was with child and he was afraid that his father was going to pick that child over him. Once the baby was born they had named the baby Isaac. Ishmael liked Isaac but sarah wanted him and his mother out. But abraham wanted him here because he was his father son. That very night ishmael and his mother left because they didn’t want to be in the place where they weren’t wanted.
As for Sam, his father left him and his mother and started his new life with another girl. Sam didn’t understand why his father left was he not good for his father. His was mad at his father for leaving him and his mother who was moping around the house everyday. His dad asked him to be the best man for his wedding and he didn’t want to because of his mother but she said it was up to him. Throughout his parents splitting up his friend who name is J.D, Reece, Kiara, help him through it. Sam went to church a lot and he pried. He went to his father house every weekend. One day his father asked him how would he feel if he had a little brother or sister, Sam got mad cause he wants to know why could had a kid with his mom instead of his step-mother rachel. He end up getting a little brother name David and sam made the choice to be there for is little brother cause he don’t want his brother to go through what he did by himself.
Through this book there was a lot of anger and loneliness. I like how in this book Ishmael was his point of view. I like how in the book the pages were poem, so it can be easy to read it. I would rate this book a 4/5 because the book was so good. I would recommend this book to anyone one because this was an easy book to read.
First off, congratulations to Alice Constantine for being the first 8th grader to submit their readers response. Great job, Alice!
Book: Dark Sons
Author: Nikki Grimes
Submitted: June 27
Review: AC
This week I read Dark Sons by Nikki Grimes. The main characters in the book are Sam and Ishmael, they are brothers because they have the same father. Sam can't believe it when his father leaves the family to marry another woman. This woman is also white and he is kind of a slave so that create problems. Sam is very upset because he thought him and his dad were close. Ishmael is his father's first son. But then Ishmael father meets people and these people tell his father that Sarah will give birth to a son, and she has been waiting for one. Then the baby comes and they name him Isaac. All of these people are in a way related to Abraham. But Ishmael is worried that the baby is coming. But both these characters can relate to each other because their father theft them, so they feel abandoned. But this whole book is kind of like a bible story and God plays a role in the book.
The quote I chose is “ Who can I trust?”. This quotes fits into the book because Sam feels so much betrayal from his father leaving. Now Sam doesn’t know how he can trust. He’s not even sure if Gods on his side. Ishmael almost feels the same because his father left too. Tis is how the quote fits into the book.
Book: Highway Cats
Author: Janet Taylor Lisle
Submitted: July 6
Review: AC
This week I read Highway Cats by Janet Taylor Lisle. This book is about three kittens that want to save their forest. They are all cats who sit in alleys and eat dumpster food there not really upper-class kittens and cats. There are seven cats Shredder, Murry the claw, Jolly Roger, Khalia, and the three kittens. None of the cats pay any attention to the kittens because they think that the kittens are small and useless. Then one of the older cats shredder kind of helps the kittens. The kittens bring all the cats together all seven of them to save the forest. You will have to read the book to see if they save the forest and if the cats make it out okay.
The quote I chose is “Did we do it?” (Page 60). This quote fits into the book because not everybody is on board. They all have doubts and still think the kittens are useless and small. Everybody is starting to care about each other at least that’s what they’re saying, but I think that everybody really doesn’t. In my option, it feels like everybody’s unsure. But I really enjoyed the book because it was interesting and I really wanted to know what was going to happen to the cats.
Book: Knots in My Yo-Yo String
Author: Jerry Spinelli
Submitted: July 6
Review: AN
This week I read Knots In My Yo-Yo String by Jerry Spinelli. I picked this book from the summer reading list because I felt like it had an interesting name. But as I read the book, I realized it wasn't what I thought the book was going to be about. The book is an autobiography, meaning it's a book about himself. So the book basically talks about his life when he was about 5 years old to when he is a senior in High School. The story takes place in Pennsylvania.
Jerry described himself as a reading “goody two shoes” boy who loves playing sports, and enjoys nature. Jerry also has a younger brother named Bill and they both have a dog named Lucky, who later dies in the story. Jerry lived in a red brick second floor house. Later he moved to the West End 802 George Street where he lives there until he’s 16. In this time period movies were black and white, and there was segregation towards black people. Later on in the book when Jerry goes to high school he meets his future wife, Judy Pierson. They went to school dances together, Saturdays they went to church, and later on they got married. Would you read another book from this genre? I think I might read another autobiography because I liked how they gave lots of detail from when they were young to when they got older. I would also read another autobiography because I liked the way he looks back in time and how he has a different point of view.
Book: Dark Sons
Author: Nikki Grimes
Submitted: July 7
Review: SL
This summer I read the book Dark Sons by Nikki Grimes. This book was amazing It was about these to two boys who names are Sam and Ishmael and they relate to each other because they both were living similar lives.
So for Ishmael father was Abraham and was married to Sarah, but sarah couldn’t have a child and she had told abraham to go have a child with the maid-servant to give abraham a child. When Ishmael was born sarah hated him and his mother. Everyday she would gave ishmael the meanest look ever. Ishmael and abraham had the best father and son bond ever. But then Ishmael heard the news that sarah was with child and he was afraid that his father was going to pick that child over him. Once the baby was born they had named the baby Isaac. Ishmael liked Isaac but sarah wanted him and his mother out. But abraham wanted him here because he was his father son. That very night ishmael and his mother left because they didn’t want to be in the place where they weren’t wanted.
As for Sam, his father left him and his mother and started his new life with another girl. Sam didn’t understand why his father left was he not good for his father. His was mad at his father for leaving him and his mother who was moping around the house everyday. His dad asked him to be the best man for his wedding and he didn’t want to because of his mother but she said it was up to him. Throughout his parents splitting up his friend who name is J.D, Reece, Kiara, help him through it. Sam went to church a lot and he pried. He went to his father house every weekend. One day his father asked him how would he feel if he had a little brother or sister, Sam got mad cause he wants to know why could had a kid with his mom instead of his step-mother rachel. He end up getting a little brother name David and sam made the choice to be there for is little brother cause he don’t want his brother to go through what he did by himself.
Through this book there was a lot of anger and loneliness. I like how in this book Ishmael was his point of view. I like how in the book the pages were poem, so it can be easy to read it. I would rate this book a 4/5 because the book was so good. I would recommend this book to anyone one because this was an easy book to read.
Book: Al Capone Does My Shirts
Author: Gennifer Choldenko
Submitted: July 9
Review: DS
This week I read Al Capone Does My Shirts by Gennifer Choldenko. It takes place in 1935 on an island called Alcatraz island with the 12 year old antagonist, Moose Flanagan. Moose and his family recently moved to the Alcatraz island with his family.But Moose's sister (Natalie) has trouble talking to people, and people judge his sister because of that, but Moose loves his sister and never wants to leave her left out.Soon they have been told by Theresa to see have a look at the Alcatraz island, she tells Moose a lot about Capone who is a criminal and jailed. But Moose meets another person, Piper. And as soon as Moose meets Piper, he knows somethings wrong, that Piper is in trouble, she was jailed. Soon Piper starts doing laundry for criminal service.Natalie can’t start school because the school that Moose and his family wanted her to go to didn't accepted her to the school.Moose soon writes a letter to Capone asking him to help him get his sister into school, but days later Natalie is accepted to a school that he wanted her sister to go to. When Moose gets his laundry back ( which Capone did for him because of criminal service) he realizes that Capone helped him, even though he was one of the worst criminals.
My quote from this book is “It’s so nice to have my dad again. I was angry at him for looking for a job up here and angry all over again when he found one. I’ve been angry at my mom for making us do this, and at pete and all my friends at home because I had to move away and they didn’t . I’ve been mad at everyone except Natalie. I always try really hard not to get angry at her.” This quote shows how much Moose cares about his sister and doesn’t want her to be upset. And it also reveals how infuriated Moose is with not just his whole family, but with everyone. I would feel the same way if I had to move to a: dirty,dangerous,and small island.I could relate to this quote to. When I moved to my new house 2 years ago I was so upset that I had to move to a new house for a few reasons,: Because it was infested with insects, my mom's new job, and it was too expensive to live in. I felt the same way as Moose, angry. I was mad at the insects for the most part.My rating on this book will have to be a sad 2/5 stars. I am a reader who likes the author to introduce the people and describe the location that the antagonist is in. In this book it was hard for me to understand the whole story I had to re-read each chapter 2-4 times to understand the book.And im a very impatient person, so it took some time to finish a chapter and the whole book in general .I did not like how Moose just wrote a letter to one of the most dangerous criminals in the prison for help with his sister.I just didn’t like the plot in general.
Book: Tangerine
Author: Edward Bloom
Submitted: July 10
Review: CM
This week I read Tangerine by Edward Bloom. The main character's name is Paul Fisher. He moved to Tangerine, Florida because there his father was able to find work in engineering. Paul has a hard time to try to adjust and fit into this town. I have related to this situation in my own life and that's why I like this book.
Paul Fisher is 13 years old and recently just moved to Florida from Texas. Paul is legally blind and plays the position goalkeeper in soccer. That may sound odd, but he is really good. His older brother Erik is a kicker in football, and he was awarded a scholarship in Florida. Paul started at a new school in Florida, where days later the portable classrooms are on top of a sinkhole. So Paul switched to a different school called Tangerine Middle School. There a girl named Theresa shows him around the school. Paul asks Theresa about the soccer team and Theresa says that her brother is on the team and they get second place every year. Paul then joins the team.
I really liked this book because I can relate it to my life in two ways. Moving places and not fitting in, and with soccer, I would rather join a second place team to make them better. I would rate this book a 8 out of 10 because it relates to me and has some good parts where Paul struggles to start on the team but he does it at the end. Also, the book is a good page Turner and I love page turners. However, some parts of the book were also slow to get through.
Author: Gennifer Choldenko
Submitted: July 9
Review: DS
This week I read Al Capone Does My Shirts by Gennifer Choldenko. It takes place in 1935 on an island called Alcatraz island with the 12 year old antagonist, Moose Flanagan. Moose and his family recently moved to the Alcatraz island with his family.But Moose's sister (Natalie) has trouble talking to people, and people judge his sister because of that, but Moose loves his sister and never wants to leave her left out.Soon they have been told by Theresa to see have a look at the Alcatraz island, she tells Moose a lot about Capone who is a criminal and jailed. But Moose meets another person, Piper. And as soon as Moose meets Piper, he knows somethings wrong, that Piper is in trouble, she was jailed. Soon Piper starts doing laundry for criminal service.Natalie can’t start school because the school that Moose and his family wanted her to go to didn't accepted her to the school.Moose soon writes a letter to Capone asking him to help him get his sister into school, but days later Natalie is accepted to a school that he wanted her sister to go to. When Moose gets his laundry back ( which Capone did for him because of criminal service) he realizes that Capone helped him, even though he was one of the worst criminals.
My quote from this book is “It’s so nice to have my dad again. I was angry at him for looking for a job up here and angry all over again when he found one. I’ve been angry at my mom for making us do this, and at pete and all my friends at home because I had to move away and they didn’t . I’ve been mad at everyone except Natalie. I always try really hard not to get angry at her.” This quote shows how much Moose cares about his sister and doesn’t want her to be upset. And it also reveals how infuriated Moose is with not just his whole family, but with everyone. I would feel the same way if I had to move to a: dirty,dangerous,and small island.I could relate to this quote to. When I moved to my new house 2 years ago I was so upset that I had to move to a new house for a few reasons,: Because it was infested with insects, my mom's new job, and it was too expensive to live in. I felt the same way as Moose, angry. I was mad at the insects for the most part.My rating on this book will have to be a sad 2/5 stars. I am a reader who likes the author to introduce the people and describe the location that the antagonist is in. In this book it was hard for me to understand the whole story I had to re-read each chapter 2-4 times to understand the book.And im a very impatient person, so it took some time to finish a chapter and the whole book in general .I did not like how Moose just wrote a letter to one of the most dangerous criminals in the prison for help with his sister.I just didn’t like the plot in general.
Author: Edward Bloom
Submitted: July 10
Review: CM
This week I read Tangerine by Edward Bloom. The main character's name is Paul Fisher. He moved to Tangerine, Florida because there his father was able to find work in engineering. Paul has a hard time to try to adjust and fit into this town. I have related to this situation in my own life and that's why I like this book.
Paul Fisher is 13 years old and recently just moved to Florida from Texas. Paul is legally blind and plays the position goalkeeper in soccer. That may sound odd, but he is really good. His older brother Erik is a kicker in football, and he was awarded a scholarship in Florida. Paul started at a new school in Florida, where days later the portable classrooms are on top of a sinkhole. So Paul switched to a different school called Tangerine Middle School. There a girl named Theresa shows him around the school. Paul asks Theresa about the soccer team and Theresa says that her brother is on the team and they get second place every year. Paul then joins the team.
I really liked this book because I can relate it to my life in two ways. Moving places and not fitting in, and with soccer, I would rather join a second place team to make them better. I would rate this book a 8 out of 10 because it relates to me and has some good parts where Paul struggles to start on the team but he does it at the end. Also, the book is a good page Turner and I love page turners. However, some parts of the book were also slow to get through.