Eighth Grade Summer Responses part 2
Book: Dark Sons
Author: Nikki Grimes
Submitted: July 16
Review: IL
This week I read Dark Sons by Nikki Grime. Dark Sons is about two parallel stories of Ishmael and Sam. Both of their fathers were with them most of their childhood but later on had another child and went to live with their other family. Both of them were angry at their fathers for just moving on from them and leaving them. So they pray to God and ask him for help living through this hardship of not having the father they wanted. This story is expressed through poems.
“I went a whole day without cursing his name. I suppose that’s some kind of progress.” This quote comes from Sam and it shows how much hate he directed toward his dad before this quote. That shows something in common between Sam and Ishmael. Both of them hated their fathers because they thought they had a bond with their father, but their fathers just abandoned that bond to live with another child. Because of this hate, both of them have to look to God to help them figure what to do. That’s important in life because you can’t get through these kinds of situations without God.
One of the books I read for summer reading was The Grimm Legacy by Polly Shulman. This book is about Elizabeth Rew as she gets a job in the New York Circulating Material Repository. In her new job she makes friends and finds a mysterious bird following one of her friend around. Also many magical items from some special collections have been stolen and replaced with non-magical duplicates. Elizabeth and her friends must figure out this magical mystery.
Book: Life As We Knew It
Author: Susan Beth Pfeffer
Submitted: July 19
This week I read Life, as we knew it by Susan Beth Pfeffer. The main character in the book is Miranda she is 16, she lives with her mom and her younger brother Jonny. She was living a normal life until an asteroid hits the moon bringing much closer to earth. This causes tsunamis, earthquakes, and volcano eruptions, which kills tons of people around the world. Because of the Volcano eruptions there is ash in the sky, which means no one can grow food. Miranda’s older brother Matt comes home from college because of everything that has happened. Miranda and her family are running out of food, this makes them weaker. Now it’s winter and very cold everyone expect Miranda gets the flu. She helps them and they survive the flu. But you will have to read the book to see if they survive this.
The quote I chose is “ Our moon and if it was attacked, then we were attacked” (page 20). This quote fits into the book because everyone now understands what has happened and his or her lives would change. It’s almost like earth was the one attacked not the moon. Also if everyone did not panic at the second I think the book would have been different. This is how the quote fits into the book.
Book: Dark Sons
Author: Nikki Grimes
Submitted: July 20
Review: DR
Dark Sons, by Nikki Grimes, tells two stories, both of which are about boys who struggle with their relationship with their father. Ishmael has been his father’s only son for a long time. They use to do so much together, with only one problem: his father’s wife, Sarah. Sarah has tried to have children, but she has not succeeded, so she sees Ishmael as the son who is not hers. Then, she does have a child, and Ishmael’s father orders him and his mother away. Ishmael turns to God and asks for a miracle. Sam, the boy in the second story, is in a similar situation. His father leaves his mother for another woman which makes him angry, extremely angry. Then, when he believes that his situation can get no worse, his father has a child with this other woman. Sam too, asks God for a miracle. One of the main ideas in both stories is family. Both Ishmael and Sam face problems with their family members. But they realize that they need their relatives more than know they do. The boys begin to understand that no matter how angry they are, they have to accept their families, because family members can give you something that no other person can.
Throughout Sam and Ishmael’s stories, both know that they can’t let their anger separate them from their loved ones.
“Next thing I know, I’m drowning. And for what? Dad’s as gone as ever, still remarried with a kid who’s half my brother; my mother’s still struggling on her own; and me? I’m sinking like a stone. Now, I may be slow, but I know it’s time to crawl ashore. Never mind the bloody knees. Help me out here, God. Please. I can’t use this anger anymore.”
Although this is Sam’s quote, the feeling in it describes Ishmael’s emotion’s as well. Both boys are exhausted by their anger. They just want to go back to the way things were, but they know that’s not possible. The only way to make things better is to stop being angry. Suddenly they realize that they can’t be angry forever. The hate that anger brings will ruin their lives. One of the largest differences between these two stories in Dark Sons is the time period. Ishmael’s story is in the Bible, while Sam’s story is a fictional but realistic modern day story. Yet the stories are so similar. In both, there is a boy who misses who his father used to be. Dark Sons shows us that some things will never change. Time will go on, but there will always be a child who is hurt in the way Ishmael and Sam are hurt. It is because of this that Ishmael and Sam are going through the same thing, yet they live in very different times.
For my first summer reading book, I read The Keeper by Mal Peet. Paul Faustino, a reporter for La Nacion, is interviewing El Gato, the star goalie of the Brazilian national team, who has just won the world cup. Paul, a long-time friend of his, wants a statement about the game, but El Gato wants to talk about his childhood in the Brazilian rainforest and his original training as a goalie.
El Gato talks about a mysterious ghoulish creature known only as "the keeper," who trained him in an abandoned soccer field in the middle of the forest. At first, Faustino doesn't believe him, but he shows no signs that he is lying. El Gato tells his parents that he wants to be a biologist and that he is in the rainforest collecting samples. He trains with the keeper every day and at first he is scared of him, but then he starts to understand and even appreciate him.
After two years of training with the keeper, El Gato turns 15, and his father makes him go work as a logger in the forest. He doesn't mind his job, but it's a lot of work and he wishes that he could keep working on goal-keeping with the keeper. Then he discovers that every Saturday, the loggers play a soccer game. He ends up playing goalie and he plays amazingly. After a few weeks, he starts to become well-known and starts to draw attention from professional soccer leagues. He is signed onto a soccer team and that begins his professional career.
At the end, he talks about the last World Cup game and the penalty kicks that he missed and he saved. He has never told anyone about the keeper, but he wants Paul to make it into a book. He doesn't care if people don't believe him, he just wants to get the message out. He also reveals that he is retiring. In the end, he brings the world cup trophy to the keeper and finally sends him and the rest of his team to where they belong.
This is a great book and I suggest that everyone read it. It is a story of redemption, trust, and being your true self.
Book: The Red Pyramid
Author: Rick Riordan
Submitted: July 24
Review: CM
This week I read Red pyramid by Rick Riordan.The main character, Carter has a sister named Sadie, and she lives in London. He doesn't live with his sister, but with his dad. Carter’s sister can’t stay with Carter's father because the father was blamed that he killed his wife. So now Sadie stays with her grandparents, and Sadie only sees them once a year. Carter lives with his dad in the middle of Egypt because of his father's work. Carter does not like the location, and he thinks he has a pretty miserable life, things happen to him though that change his life forever.
Now, both Carter and Sadie work together to solve mysteries that disappeared from them. They also learn that they are descendants of two Pharaohs that are named Narmer and Rameses. Throughout the book Carter and Sadie are always together, they work well together when solving mysteries, even though they have a love and hate relationship. Carter and Sadie have magic to stop enemies, but when they're together, they're unstoppable.
This was the first time I read this book and I am a Rick Riordan fan. In my personal opinion, I thought this was not the best book he has written. I would rate this book a four out of ten. The book wasn’t written well and the storyline was very brutal. I also didn’t like the characters personality. However there is some positive aspects to it like the action which I enjoyed.
Author: Nikki Grimes
Submitted: July 16
Review: IL
“I went a whole day without cursing his name. I suppose that’s some kind of progress.” This quote comes from Sam and it shows how much hate he directed toward his dad before this quote. That shows something in common between Sam and Ishmael. Both of them hated their fathers because they thought they had a bond with their father, but their fathers just abandoned that bond to live with another child. Because of this hate, both of them have to look to God to help them figure what to do. That’s important in life because you can’t get through these kinds of situations without God.
Book:The Grimm Legacy
Author: Poly Schulman
Submitted: July 16
Review: IL
Author: Poly Schulman
Submitted: July 16
Review: IL
“The one who asks questions does not lose his way.” This quote was told to Elizabeth in the beginning of the book. This quote isn’t too important but good advice. If you are confused and you ask questions, then you will get answers and you’re not lost. This quote is saying ask questions so you don’t get lost.
Book:Al Capone Does My Shirts
Author: Gennifer Choldenko
Submitted: July 18
Over the past week, I read Al Capone Does My Shirts, by Gennifer Choldenko. It’s about a 12 year old boy named Moose Flanagan, who is adjusting to new life on Alcatraz Island. As tough as that would be for any average 12 year old, it’s especially hard for Moose, because he’s one of the only kids on the island, but he also is always going to be known as the kid with the autistic sister. His sister is named Natalie, and he has to balance his life with her needs, his friends needs, his parents needs, and his needs. Al Capone Does My Shirts is about Moose doing what he thinks best for Natalie, his friends, hi parents and himself. It makes for a pretty interesting read.
Author: Gennifer Choldenko
Submitted: July 18
Review: SY
Over the past week, I read Al Capone Does My Shirts, by Gennifer Choldenko. It’s about a 12 year old boy named Moose Flanagan, who is adjusting to new life on Alcatraz Island. As tough as that would be for any average 12 year old, it’s especially hard for Moose, because he’s one of the only kids on the island, but he also is always going to be known as the kid with the autistic sister. His sister is named Natalie, and he has to balance his life with her needs, his friends needs, his parents needs, and his needs. Al Capone Does My Shirts is about Moose doing what he thinks best for Natalie, his friends, hi parents and himself. It makes for a pretty interesting read.
Author: Susan Beth Pfeffer
Submitted: July 19
Review: AC
This week I read Life, as we knew it by Susan Beth Pfeffer. The main character in the book is Miranda she is 16, she lives with her mom and her younger brother Jonny. She was living a normal life until an asteroid hits the moon bringing much closer to earth. This causes tsunamis, earthquakes, and volcano eruptions, which kills tons of people around the world. Because of the Volcano eruptions there is ash in the sky, which means no one can grow food. Miranda’s older brother Matt comes home from college because of everything that has happened. Miranda and her family are running out of food, this makes them weaker. Now it’s winter and very cold everyone expect Miranda gets the flu. She helps them and they survive the flu. But you will have to read the book to see if they survive this.
The quote I chose is “ Our moon and if it was attacked, then we were attacked” (page 20). This quote fits into the book because everyone now understands what has happened and his or her lives would change. It’s almost like earth was the one attacked not the moon. Also if everyone did not panic at the second I think the book would have been different. This is how the quote fits into the book.
Author: Nikki Grimes
Submitted: July 20
Review: DR
Dark Sons, by Nikki Grimes, tells two stories, both of which are about boys who struggle with their relationship with their father. Ishmael has been his father’s only son for a long time. They use to do so much together, with only one problem: his father’s wife, Sarah. Sarah has tried to have children, but she has not succeeded, so she sees Ishmael as the son who is not hers. Then, she does have a child, and Ishmael’s father orders him and his mother away. Ishmael turns to God and asks for a miracle. Sam, the boy in the second story, is in a similar situation. His father leaves his mother for another woman which makes him angry, extremely angry. Then, when he believes that his situation can get no worse, his father has a child with this other woman. Sam too, asks God for a miracle. One of the main ideas in both stories is family. Both Ishmael and Sam face problems with their family members. But they realize that they need their relatives more than know they do. The boys begin to understand that no matter how angry they are, they have to accept their families, because family members can give you something that no other person can.
Throughout Sam and Ishmael’s stories, both know that they can’t let their anger separate them from their loved ones.
“Next thing I know, I’m drowning. And for what? Dad’s as gone as ever, still remarried with a kid who’s half my brother; my mother’s still struggling on her own; and me? I’m sinking like a stone. Now, I may be slow, but I know it’s time to crawl ashore. Never mind the bloody knees. Help me out here, God. Please. I can’t use this anger anymore.”
Although this is Sam’s quote, the feeling in it describes Ishmael’s emotion’s as well. Both boys are exhausted by their anger. They just want to go back to the way things were, but they know that’s not possible. The only way to make things better is to stop being angry. Suddenly they realize that they can’t be angry forever. The hate that anger brings will ruin their lives. One of the largest differences between these two stories in Dark Sons is the time period. Ishmael’s story is in the Bible, while Sam’s story is a fictional but realistic modern day story. Yet the stories are so similar. In both, there is a boy who misses who his father used to be. Dark Sons shows us that some things will never change. Time will go on, but there will always be a child who is hurt in the way Ishmael and Sam are hurt. It is because of this that Ishmael and Sam are going through the same thing, yet they live in very different times.
Book: The Keeper
Author: Mal Peet
Submitted: July 23
Review: LM
Author: Mal Peet
Submitted: July 23
Review: LM
El Gato talks about a mysterious ghoulish creature known only as "the keeper," who trained him in an abandoned soccer field in the middle of the forest. At first, Faustino doesn't believe him, but he shows no signs that he is lying. El Gato tells his parents that he wants to be a biologist and that he is in the rainforest collecting samples. He trains with the keeper every day and at first he is scared of him, but then he starts to understand and even appreciate him.
After two years of training with the keeper, El Gato turns 15, and his father makes him go work as a logger in the forest. He doesn't mind his job, but it's a lot of work and he wishes that he could keep working on goal-keeping with the keeper. Then he discovers that every Saturday, the loggers play a soccer game. He ends up playing goalie and he plays amazingly. After a few weeks, he starts to become well-known and starts to draw attention from professional soccer leagues. He is signed onto a soccer team and that begins his professional career.
At the end, he talks about the last World Cup game and the penalty kicks that he missed and he saved. He has never told anyone about the keeper, but he wants Paul to make it into a book. He doesn't care if people don't believe him, he just wants to get the message out. He also reveals that he is retiring. In the end, he brings the world cup trophy to the keeper and finally sends him and the rest of his team to where they belong.
This is a great book and I suggest that everyone read it. It is a story of redemption, trust, and being your true self.
Book: The Red Pyramid
Author: Rick Riordan
Submitted: July 24
Review: CM
This week I read Red pyramid by Rick Riordan.The main character, Carter has a sister named Sadie, and she lives in London. He doesn't live with his sister, but with his dad. Carter’s sister can’t stay with Carter's father because the father was blamed that he killed his wife. So now Sadie stays with her grandparents, and Sadie only sees them once a year. Carter lives with his dad in the middle of Egypt because of his father's work. Carter does not like the location, and he thinks he has a pretty miserable life, things happen to him though that change his life forever.
Now, both Carter and Sadie work together to solve mysteries that disappeared from them. They also learn that they are descendants of two Pharaohs that are named Narmer and Rameses. Throughout the book Carter and Sadie are always together, they work well together when solving mysteries, even though they have a love and hate relationship. Carter and Sadie have magic to stop enemies, but when they're together, they're unstoppable.
This was the first time I read this book and I am a Rick Riordan fan. In my personal opinion, I thought this was not the best book he has written. I would rate this book a four out of ten. The book wasn’t written well and the storyline was very brutal. I also didn’t like the characters personality. However there is some positive aspects to it like the action which I enjoyed.