Book reveiw 4: January Conspiracy 365

             January Conspiracy 365 is the first book of twelve books, all written by Gabrielle Lord. In the beginning of the book there is an incident with a sick man telling Cal, the main character, "hide and lay low until midnight Dec. 31st of next year, you have 365 days" (pg. 183). Also the man is saying Cal's father was not sick he was murdered. Before Cal's father died, while hid dad is in the hospital he couldn't speak, so his dad drew drawings. Cal got a call from a nurse who has some of the drawings from his father and wanted to meet up to give them to him. Cal arrives at the place the nurse wanted to meet at, and he got kidnapped. He was questioned by the kidnappers about the Ormond Singularity and Cal didn't know, the kidnappers put Cal in a small room but it has a skylight and Cal stacked up stools and escaped out the skylight. Cal got home and his mom didn't notice Cal was late because she is under loads of stress. The next night Cal got home to find his Uncle Rafe shot and unconscious and not breathing, Cal thought, who would do this? Then he realized that Gabbi is home too, Cal rushed upstairs to find Gabbi shot and not breathing. Cal performed CPR to Gabbi and got her to breath again but she didn't wake up. The kidnappers were in the house and Cal ran outside to get away from them. Cal was blamed for shooting his family because his finger prints were on the gun. Cal was on the news, and was asked to go back home and sort it out with the cops. Cal was disguised and didn't look like himself. The next day Cal went out to get food and got kidnapped again. They asked him about the Ormond Singularity but Cal still didn't have an answer. Cal was dragged to an oil vault and the kidnappers sealed the lid and turned it on The oil came rushing in and started to fill the tank. It was at his knees, then his chin, about to fill up all the way, and kill him.

          The theme of this book was that you shouldn't give up, even when your life is in danger. An example of this is when Cal was curious about the drawings Cal says, "I pulled the drawings out again and spread them on the floor, studying them for hours, trying to make sense of what my father might have meant when he drew them" (p.46). Cal didn't give up and figured out one of the drawings and says it's " a blackjack" (p.30). Cal doesn't give up his curiosity for the drawings and say, "I'd spent the last couple days hidden in the house studying the drawings" (p.45). This is the theme I chose because this is what I noticed the most in the book.
          I recommend this book because it's interesting and has a lot of action. When I picked up the book I thought it was to thick, but after a couple pages I was eager to read the rest. There's plenty of action. You'll tend to ask yourself questions about the mysteries. Most of you will want a smaller book, but this book is worth it.
           

The Old Man And The Sea

 

 The Old Man And The Sea, by Ernest Hemingway, is a story about an old Cuban fisherman, who set out to sea, and returned empty handed. For the first 40 days, Santiago had Manolin with him, Manolin was Santiago's fishing assistant, until Manolin's parents forced him to work on a more successful boat. Manolin still continued to care for Santiago each night when he returned. Manolin would help put gear away, secure food for him, and talk with Santiago about American baseball, especially the old man's hero, Joe DiMaggio. The next day Santiago was confident that his unlucky fishing will finally come to an end, so he planed to sail out further than usual. On the 85th day of his unlucky streak, Santiago sailed out further into the Gulf Stream and ended up catching a marlin. He hooked the fish but wasn't able to pull it in. Instead, he held the line with his bare hands, and let the fish drag the boat until it got tired. After three days of being dragged, the marlin tired. Santiago was able to pull in the marlin and kill it with a harpoon thrust. The marlin was tied beside the skiff, dead, but left a trail of blood. Sharks began to follow, Santiago couldn't hold them off for long so the marlin was eaten and Santiago headed back home. When he arrived, he hung the skeleton and put his gear away. Manolin was worried sick, but found Santiago asleep dreaming about lions.
  The theme I chose for the book is pride. "Humility was no disgrace and it carried no loss of true pride" (pg. 14). Santiago had not caught a fish for 84 days but even though it was humiliating he still had pride. "Beyond all people in the world, to catch a marlin" (pg. 50). Santiago felt strong, confident, and proud that he finally caught a fish. "The hell with luck, said Santiago" (pg. 125). What Santiago meant was that luck will not bring him a fish, but feeling confident and proud will. Pride is a theme I noticed in the book and that is the theme I chose.

     In my opinion, The Old Man And The Sea is a great book. If you like fishing, friendship and confidence, this book is good for you. Also, it is a pretty short book which most of you would look for. This book also inspires readers to not give up, and that even if you fall you can always get back up. This book was a great book, I would recommend it.

I got the picture from: Google.com

 

Volleyball

    It was just another ordinary day in Sitka, AK. I was hitting a volleyball against the S.H.S gym wall, during my sister's volleyball practice. I heard my sister's team playing and smelled the sweaty air. I was in 4th grade. When all of a sudden Mrs. Potrzuski walked in.
 "Hey you're pretty good at volleyball, are you one of the Dumag girls?"  Mrs. Patrzuski asked.
 "Haha, yes I'm one of the Dumags," I chuckled.
 "If B.M.S is okay with it how would you like to join my 6th grade volleyball team?"
 "Seriously?" I was shocked.
 "Yes, but only if I get an approval from B.M.S," she told me.
 "Of course, thank you!"
 "Great I'll give your mom a call when I get an answer."
 Next day...
 "Hello," my mom answered her phone.
 "Hey, this is Mrs.Patruzski, I got a an approval on having your daughter Miah join my 6th grade team, she starts on Monday at 3:30pm!"
 "Great, I'll let her know thank you," my mom said.
 "You're welcome, bye," Mrs. Patruzski said.
 "Bye," my mom said.
 "Hello," I answered my phone.
 "Miah, I'm outside your school to pick you up."
 "Okay I'm coming," I said.
 I got in the car.
 "Hey mom, thanks for picking me up."
 "You're welcome, I got a call today from Mrs. P," my mom said.
 "What'd she say?" I asked.
 "She's your new volleyball coach!"
 "Really?" I said shocked.
 "Yes, you start on Monday at 3:30pm," my mom said to me.
 "I can't believe it, I'm going to be playing on a 6th grade volleyball team!"
"Well you better believe it soon you're starting in two days!"
"I will, I'm just so shocked," I said to my mom.
"You're going to do great," my mom said.
"Thanks mom."
   After I got invited, I did pretty good. I played the full season and made new friends. I learned many things, I never knew how to do before. I even got to play the tournament, I served many times in a row, we won against a team from out of Sitka. I wanted to play volleyball for the rest of the year, but the season eventually ended, my team played a great season. Volleyball is my passion, I can't wait to play next season!

 







   

My Personal Legend: Playing Volleyball

 

                                 

                                       MY PERSONAL LEGEND

    Nothing fills my heart with joy like volleyball. I remember when I was in 4th grade and the volleyball coach asked me personally if I wanted to join the 6th grade volleyball team. I could play volleyball for the rest of my life. There may be some challenges along the way, like people saying that I can't do it, but I can handle them. Volleyball is my Personal Legend!

   To begin with, I remember the first time I played volleyball. It made an impression on me because even though people said I couldn't do it, it just made me want to play volleyball even more. Then there was that time when I played my first game. Just the idea of playing , makes me dream of all the games that I would play throughout my years. Volleyball has been exciting to me for as long as I can remember. That's why I know volleyball is my Personal Legend.


    There are lots of things I could do in order to make me happy, but volleyball is something that will always put a smile on my face. Additionally, if I pursue my dream, I will likely succeed. There are certainly many different things I could do in life to ensure that I can succeed my dream. In my opinion volleyball is a fantastic sport to play, it's fun, it gets you moving and makes you work hard. Volleyball is my sport. Volleyball is my blood.
  
 
  Some may say that there are too many challenges for me to face if I want to play volleyball. For example, I may not be good enough or I won't make a team. Though I may need to get a job which is certainly no fun at all, I think my love for volleyball will help me take setbacks like that in stride. Also, I know that living my Personal Legend won't happen right away, and I may end up liking something else, but as long as I keep my eyes on the prize I'll get there. There will be obstacles, but just remember, "keep moving forward to seek your desire."

  In conclusion, living my Personal Legend of volleyball will lead to a life well spent. From the very first time I touched a volleyball, I knew that volleyball was my first love. I'll get to try lots of different ways to embrace something new, but becoming a volleyball player seems like the best for now. There will be obstacles that I'll encounter, but as long as I remember how much I love volleyball, I can overcome them. We only have one life to live and I can't think of a better way to live mine than to become a volleyball player.

I got the image from: http://fc01.deviantart.net/fs70/i/2012/180/e/b/volleyball_on_fire_by_redrumklown-d55dugl.png

        The Underneath, by Kathi Appelt, is about a pregnant calico cat, that has been abandoned on the side of the road. Left with no where to go she travels the woods, when suddenly she hears a lonely howl from a hound whose name is Ranger chained up deep in the back waters of the bayou. The calico cat about to have kittens becomes an unlikely family with Ranger. Ranger urges the cat to hide underneath the porch from a horrible man named Gar-face, if he got his hands on them he'd surely kill them or use them as alligator bait. The calico cat had two kittens, one boy named Puck, and one girl named Sabine. The calico cat and Ranger always told their kittens to stay in the underneath away and out of sight from the terrible man Gar-face. One early morning the sun was out and Puck was awoken first, he was hypnotized by it, not knowing that he was walking out from the underneath breaking the #1 rule. He was suddenly snatched by Gar-face. His mother awoke and ran out toward him to attack but she was just scooped up like Puck. Gar-face stuffed them into a burlap bag and tossed them in the river. As they were thrown in the river the calico cat kept telling her son Puck to keep swimming and to promise that he'd go back and break the chain, as those words were said they began to fade, Puck got out of the water but his mother was no where to be seen, but he promised her he'd go back and that he would do as she told. One night Sabine and Ranger were out from the underneath when all of a sudden Gar-face grabbed Sabine, Ranger couldn't lose her too so Ranger quickly sprung up and attacked Gar-face as he was in pain he dropped Sabine and she ran away. Ranger was in pain as Gar-face dragged him to the river where he tied him to a tree and used him as alligator bait.
      Here's another story, about a mother snake named Grandmother Moccasin, and a daughter snake named Night Song because of her beautiful lullaby. One night when Grandmother Moccasin was fast asleep, Night Song had fallen in love with a hawk named Hawk man. They both turned into humans and joined a tribe, leaving Grandmother Moccasin behind. Hawk man and Night Song had a beautiful daughter. When Grandmother awoke she knew Night Song had left thinking she'd come back. She waited and waited and waited, she began to become furious she wanted her back. She searched for her to turn her back but if she turned back then she could never turn back to her human form, she found Night Song and hypnotized her and turned her back into a snake, separating her from her family she was torn apart and passed away. Night Song's daughter went looking for her mother in the deep woods, if Grandmother couldn't have Night Song then she'd take her daughter. Grandmother went back to the tribe to only find a furious father. He thought she had taken his daughter, and he thought she was lying but she wasn't. Hawk man stuffed Grandmother into a jar and buried the jar so deep it was almost impossible for her to get out. A thousand years later Grandmother broke out of her jar and slithered out.

Following up to the other story, she followed Puck to the river where Sabine and Ranger were, Gar-face was eaten by an alligator. Puck, Sabine and Ranger were finally together. Grandmother knew they were a strong family and that Ranger was still chained. Grandmother still knew a thing or two about love, so she broke the chain with one strong bite! The hound family didn't go back to the horrible house. They lived deep in the woods and lived happily ever after!
      The theme of the book in my opinion was always keep a promise. When Puck didn't keep a promise he got snatched by Gar-face. When Puck and his mom were thrown in the river, his mom made him promise he'd go back and break the chain and free Ranger. Puck did keep the promise and went back and broke the chain, sort of. These are some of the reasons I chose always keep a promise as my theme.
     I would absolutely recommend this book. It's a little boring in the beginning but it gets way better more into the book. There are some sad parts in the book but it gets better. In my opinion I liked this book a lot. I enjoyed this book a lot and I hope you enjoy it too!

Perfect Paragraph Practice

Unicorns are real! I saw one flying around my house today. One pooped on my head while it was flying. I caught one with a net. Those are the reasons that prove unicorns are real!