Final Entry

Pirates! by Celia Rees
Nancy and Minerva are the heroines in the book Pirates! Challenges crash upon them like waves, but through it all, they prove that adversity is nothing when you face it with bravery. Countless times they have been in danger, but an act of heroism from one or both of the lady pirates saves the day.


When Nancy and Minerva run away to a secret village after killing the plantation manager, she has dreams of the Brazilian coming after her. She knows that they aren’t just dreams, and that staying there will only ruin the safety of the people. The Brazilian will slaughter everyone who has helped her so far, and she can’t risk the refuge village being found; his dogs will eventually sniff them out and the villages’ destruction will be her fault. So Nancy is ready to set out to sea with pirates, even though it will be the most dangerous thing she’ll ever do. Minerva, however, has to leave her mother and the limited peaceful time she had in the village behind, knowing that she probably will never see her mother again. But for the safety of everyone, she decides to go. Together, Nancy and Minerva take to the high seas and are ready to overcome the challenges that arise.

Nancy was a pampered rich girl in New York so a pirate ship is an altogether different thing. She works hard to learn the workings of a ship and adapts to the ways of the seaman, in order to be safe from the hands of the Brazilian. Minerva becomes accustomed to the ship faster though, and when they are attacked by other ships, she fights hard to prove that she, a woman, can be a pirate. I learned from Nancy and Minerva that through hard work and dedication, you can accomplish anything and overcome adversity. Basically, to every sunset, there is a sunrise- no matter what sea you’re sailing.
-Melissa

The Hobbit by J. R. R. Tolkien
The universal concern in The Hobbit is courage. In the story Bilbo Baggins is a quiet little hobbit, that is until a wizard and 13 dwarfs show up on his doorstep. The dwarfs are lead by Thorin Oakenshield, and he has come to request Bilbo’s help as a burglar in there attempt to kill the evil dragon Smaug and retake Thorin’s grandfathers castle under the mountain. Bilbo has no experience as a thief, but is compelled to do it by Gandalf (the wizard), because the dwarfs have promised to reward him handsomely and because he has a “Tookish” side, a sense of adventure that is inherited from his grandfather. The party sets off quickly, much to the dismay of Bilbo, and is swiftly… trapped by trolls, mostly because of a mistake by the “master” thief Bilbo. Gandalf has to help set them free, but they do find legendary weapons used in the wars between dwarfs and the evil goblins and Bilbo is filled with cautious optimism towards the trip. As the adventures continue the group of travelers (except of Bilbo) are captured by the before mentioned goblins, but that allows the hobbit to be brave and defeat the hermit Gollum and steal his ring that makes the wearer invisible.


By the end of the book Bilbo is a completely changed person from the beginning. He has stood up to dragons, rescued his companions from giant spiders, escaped from kingdoms who want him captured. He even stole the Arkstone from Thorin and gave it to humans, trying to get Thorin to stop fighting over the mountains riches and compromise. In The Hobbit standing up to a powerful dwarf who wants what he believes is his birthright is not something a person would do, and in doing so Bilbo showed that he was courageous when it is for a good cause.
-Michael

The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins
A universal concern that occurs in the hunger games is the starvation that takes place. In this universe we call earth, there are thousands of people starving and searching for food; for love; for a chance to survive. In the hunger games, there are 12 districts surrounded by the central capital, and each district is covered in poverty and starvation. It is not a pretty sight to see. Each year, two people are sent to fight for food in their district. The winners receive food for their district for a year. The losers, unfortunately, are dead, and the families of the losers have to deal with a loss. The districts of the losers will have to deal with starvation for the whole year until the next year, where more kids are sent to fight to the death for food. The kids have the worst part, because they risk being sent into the arena, and if they do make it in there, they have to worry about the fact that if the live their district gets food. If they die, their district starves. They have a lot of pressure on them.
-Bret Hughes

East by Edith Pattou
In the book East, Rose shows the true meaning of true friendship and perseverance. When she is taken to the castle in order to save her family, she feels alone but with the white bear, her longing for companion soon to disappear. What Rose and the white bear shows the strength of a true people to people and people to pet bonds. Even though various people may have difficulty communicating or just have behavior problems, there’s always some way to bond with them especially in the part where she gets along with her servant Tuki and plays with him using a game that the two of them point to different objects in their languages. The bonding creates perseverance for each other because if there’s a strong bond, the will to fight for each other is stronger. No matter what Rose had to do, she would find the white bear, despite what she did to hurt their friendship. The experiences Rose went through in order explains that to never give up, one must have a goal, especially now because many jobs require higher level college, which is a harder and perseverance becomes more attuned to life. When you persevere, you meet people along the journey and that shows that true friendship can really shine to help you persevere through the months and years of a lifetime.


In various years, I’ve had great friends to enjoy my education with and together we accomplished a lot. Especially in East where she is almost never alone but when Rose is, she becomes thinner and thinner then hopeless before she meets Tuki again. This shows that isolation helps with learning but if you have no friends to enjoy it with. Paradise becomes another obstacle and without true friendship, perseverance becomes a lot harder to do.
-Benmark

Blog #5: Letter from BoB Character to Another Character

Pirates! by Celia Rees
    Odysseus
Dear Penelope,


I have heard from various sailors throughout the Mediterreran Sea that your husband Odysseus or Ulysses maybe dead. Well, I’m in the same situation and you should never give up hope because when he comes home, his love will still be there, even though you may be different. He is the same man that you once wed. I ran away from my plantation because there’s a rich man called Bartholome the Brazilian that lives near me that’s wants me to be his wife but I refused, due to my heart still being with William. I became a pirate so that I may run away from Bartholome and maybe find William. So far I have heard only tales of him and hope that I will find him. I know that he still loves me even though I’m a pirate on the outside but still the girl he loves on the inside.


Regards and High Hopes for you ,
Nancy Kingston


-Benmark




Peaches by Jodi Lynn Anderson
    The Golden Compass by Phillip Pullman

Dear Lyra,


You're pretty cool. With you living as an orphan and all, you don't seem messed up, and you're smart too. Haha, you remind me of me. Anyway, I heard that you're friend Roger disappeared. Well I think that Coulter lady took him. I don't know, I just have a bad feeling about her because she reminds me of Horatio Balmeade, and that guy is horrible. Rich and controlling, always trying to get everything they want. And don't go with her because trust me, you'll regret it. You should avoid snobby like that. As I said, I've had experience. And you do not want to go through what I went through. It might be different for you though, because Coulter is a girl, and Horatio Balmeade was a guy...

Anyway, if you get the chance, you should try and pull a prank on the Coulter lady. Hahaha, one time during the summer, I stuck a fish in Balmeade's club house, it was hilarious. Maybe you can get some fish and stick it in her, I don't know, down her dress. Prank her, and you'll be a hero. Don't get caught though, they might make you work on a peach farm. Don't ask. Actually, peach farms aren't that bad.
Have fun!

From,

Murphy    
                                                                                                            -Melissa      

Entry #4: Protagonist and Antagonist

Peaches by Jodi Lynn Anderson
Birdie's peach farm is broke, but she doesn't realize that. Murphy works on the farm over spring break and Murphy doesn't like Birdie that much. Birdie is shy and quiet, and even insecure. Her parents got a divorce and she's still trying to cope with that, while her dad tries to get them out of debt. Murphy might be the antagonist because she thinks one of the workers is cute, and he's also the same guy that Birdie has a crush on. Murphy has a lot of boyfriends and likes to cause trouble; she even wrote a paper about homosexual monkeys for her homophobic teacher. Both of them are kind of alone, though, and forced to go through things or do things that they don't want to, and they might help each other to save the peach farm from being taken away.
-Melissa


The Boxes by William Sleator
In the book The Boxes, Annie is a very curious girl that likes to explore various places and is quick thinker in terms of decisions that are life changing or could potentially ruin the world. Even though her uncle told her not to open the boxes, she opened them anyway because her temptation to open it was increased due to the reverse psychology placed by Uncle Marco. The antagonist, Crunchy Development Company tries to take over Annie and Henry’s House. They use every tactic available to them including stalking, bribing and spying to get them to sell the house. Their goal is to build a super mall on the old neighborhood but when they found about the clock and its powers they try to get their hands on it.
-Benmark

The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins
In the Hunger Games, the protagonists are Katniss and Peeta. Some people think that Fox face and Kato are the antagonists, but I think that the government is the real antagonists. The people in the arena are being forced to fight, so they are not really antagonists. Katniss is the main character in the Hunger Games, and she is the one who wins the hunger games, and the one who wins along side her is Peeta, the baker’s son. The government is the one that forces the districts to live in poverty and starve each year, they also force a boy and a girl to fight in the arena each year to get food for their district. The people and the government are not similar in any way, but they are connected. Every decision the people make are based on what the government allows. The ways they are different are that the government treats people very poorly, and only care about staying in power, but Katniss has always helped people throughout her life; if it wasn’t for her, her family would be nothing. Peeta also has always given bread to Katniss when she needed it.
-Bret

Entry #3: Foreshadowing

The Hobbit by J.R.R Tolkien
I predict in J.R.R. Tolkien’s The Hobbit that Mr.Baggings, Gandalf and their Dwarf companions will finally slay the dragon Smaug and get steal riches because of there combined skills. Bilbo found a ring that turns him invisible and is good at sneaking past guards, Gandalf is a wizard that can summon fire at a thought and shows up just in time to save the dwarfs and Bilbo. The dwarfs them self are very capable of many things. Thorin Oakenshield their leader is a strong fighter but sometimes relies on Gandalf and Bilbo’s skills to bail them out of trouble. I believe that these and some undiscovered talents and allies will help them achieve their goals.
-Michael

Peaches by Jodi Lynn Anderson
There are three girls in Peaches, Birdie, Leeda, and Murphy. They're all very different but I think they will become best friends because their lives are connected. Murphy has a lot of boyfriends so she might get pregnant and when she gets sent to help out on Birdie's peach orchard, she will change for the better. Leeda always feels insecure so she might run away with her boyfriend. Also, Birdie meets a guy that she gets nervous about and Murphy thinks he's cute, so there could be a conflict over that.
-Melissa

The Westing Games by Ellen Raskin
I predict that in the Westing Games, Sydelle Pulaski will be the person who shouldn’t be in the apartments. I say this because in the story, Sydelle is described as someone that no one notices, that no one listens to, and that non one listens to and that no one cares about. On page 16, Sydelle says, “No one ever notices Sydelle Pulaski,” “but now they will. Now they will.” Those words give a feeling of hate, of revenge, of someone who is longing for recognition. It makes you feel like Sydelle wants revenge on the people who ignored her, and she wants to be noticed.
-Bret

East by Edith Pattou
In the beginning of East by Edith Pattou, Rose is thought to be born east but is born north instead. A fortune teller tells Rose’s mother that her north born child will die from an avalanche of snow and ice. This might happen because Rose is careless and not caring about her health and never stays in the house, always going off somewhere; a sign of being north born by his mother. Rose’s adventurous behavior causes her to lust for the adventure to the very north of the world, where the whole landscape is made up of ice and snow.
-Benmark

Entry #2: The Setting

 "Nobody can understand"- Vladek Spiegelman (Maus)

 "So only my little brother, Pinek, came out from the war alive...from the rest of my family, it's nothing left, not even a snapshot." - Vladek Spiegelman (Maus)

The Highest Tide by Jim Lynch
The setting takes place in Puget Sound where unique creature are found and where it is cold.  Puget Sound is a place not affected by big cities or waste, so the natural sea life found in their are unique. How it affects the story is by making Miles and the ocean as one because Miles spends so much time by the shore and studies it carefully and the ocean provides him with food, money that he sels to other people by finding unique, edible creatures and a giant squid that first made him famous. The ocean can be beautiful as well as deadly, when the book's date reach Sept.8 the highest tide happened and the outskirts of Olympia was amazed at the power of the Ocean. Puget Sound is beautiful and at the same time, mysterious in the creatures that you can find.
-Benmark

Pirates! by Celia Rees

The setting is mostly at sea on a few different ships. The beginning of the book took place on Nancy’s plantation where she befriends Minerva. It’s sunny and tropical with cicadas and fireflies at night. There are ponds and swamps where alligators lurk. Hidden is the Fountain, which is a natural spring of water the plantation was named after. Nancy and Minerva go on various ships, and important scenes usually take place on the deck or in their room. It also takes place in bars and in a little village they build at the end. The time it’s set in is the era of slaves and plantations, when women and blacks were discriminated, and arranged marriages existed.

-Melissa

 Maus by Art Spiegelman

The setting for the most part is a bleak one. The story is about Archie’s grandfather Vladek who was a Jew is Nazi occupied Poland. The fact that Maus is a graphic novel really helps paint a more vivid setting, but sometimes that’s not the best thing. Archie Spiegelman goes into detail telling and showing the living conditions and the torture the Jewish people went through. The setting is not always so serious, Archie tells of his family, his daily mental troubles, and almost every moment he was with his father while writing the book. He even goes on to tell of the grocery trip and bingo. The setting may be a bleak on, but it is necessary, and really added to the subject of the story.

 -Michael

The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins
This takes place in a futuristic society like a utopia. There are 12 districts and the center capital that rules over the districts. Each district is poor, so you can imagine what they look like, and the capital is rich. The setting of the arena would be hard to describe because it changes every year, from artic tundra to a desert wasteland to a large forest. 
-Bret

Entry #1: Summary

"May the odds be ever in your favor!"- Effie (The Hunger Games)

"You want advice? Stay Alice!"-Haymitch (The Hunger Games)

"You don't forget the face of the person who was your last hope."-Katniss (The Hunger Games) 

Night Hoops by Carl Dueker
Nick tries out for the varsity basketball team when he starts high school. His neighbor across the street is a bully named Trent whose brother gets into a lot of trouble all the time. Trent also tries out for varsity and they both make it. At first, they hate each other but when Nick’s mom lets Trent play basketball in their backyard, they form a friendship that helps them get better and impresses their coach. In the end, their friendship helps them win the championship and prevents Trent from running away.
-Melissa


The Boxes by William Sleator
Annie’s uncle Marco leaves two boxes in her possession. She opens one that lets out a mysterious crab species that worships a magic clock that can slow down time. The other box has crabs in it. An evil development company that witnesses the clock’s power steals the clock and the only way to stop them is to merge the clock with a palace the crabs built in her basement.
-Michael


The Hunger Games by Susan Collins
The heroin, Katniss Everdeen volunteers to go to the capital to fight in the Hunger Games, in place of her sister, Primrose Everdeen. In the Hunger Games, a male and a female of each of the 12 districts are chosen to fight in an arena to the death. The obstacle that Katniss has to overcome is to survive the battle in the arena and not be killed. To help the odds be on her side, she forms an alliance with Roo, the girl from the 9th district, but she dies. She then teams up with the Peeta, the boy who was chosen from her district, but he is no help, because he is wounded.
-Bret



An Abundance of Katherines by John Green
The book Abundance of Katherines is about Colin Singleton and the nineteen Katherines that dumped him. Colin goes on a road trip with his best and only friend Hassan. Along the road trip, he tries to create a theorem proving whether or not the person is a dumpee or dumper. Colin and Hassan stop at Gutshot, Tennessee, to take a tour of the Archduke. They meet Lindsey, a local at Gutshot, then from that point on. Colin and Hassan get involved in the drama and secrets that lie in the small town of Gutshot. In the end, Colin figures out that the future can’t be predicted with any theorem and there are too many variables, if such a theorem existed.
-Benmark