The Clique Summer Collection: Massie

In the beginning Massie is at summer camp at Galwaugh Farms, an exclusive horseback riding camp. She got kicked out when she cheated in a competition. Her parents cut her off of her credit cards until she could pay them back. She decided to be a cosmetic consultant for Be Pretty Cosmetics. If you become a high seller you get a purple streak and you never have to wait on any line again. She becomes a really good sales person and Anastasia Brees believes in true beauty. When she finds out the way Massie was selling the cosmetics she got really mad. Massie was telling everyone what was wrong with them so they could buy her products. In the end Massie paid off her debit to her parents and got her purple streak.

The main character of this book was Massie Block, I think that she is a really big brat. She gets whatever she wants when ever she wants and if she doesn't get it there is a huge problem. She always gets what she wants in the end.

Something that I really liked about this book was how she got what she wanted by working hard for it. I didn't like how she insulted people about their flaws just so she could get the purple streak. I also hate how she pretends to use all Be Pretty products when she doesn't use any.

One reading strategy that I used was that I made a connection to the book Bratfest at Tiffany's. on the first day of school in that book Massie talks about her summer and her purple streak. Another strategy that I used was that I made a prediction that she would get what she wanted, the purple streak, and I was right.

The author Lisi Harrison also has written The Clique, The Pretty Committee Strikes Back, Invasion of the Boy Snatchers, The Clique:Second Collection, Revenge of the Wannabes, Dial L for Loser, It's Not Easy Being Mean, The Clique Summer Collection:Dylan, Sunshine Girls #3, Best Friends for Never, Blood and Thunder: An Epic of the American West, Steeled with a Diss, Bratfest at Tiffany's, Sunshine girls #2, Sunshine Girls #1, Clique Summer Collection: Alicia, Clique Summer Collection: Claire, Clique Summer Collection: Kristen.

John Adams #7

In the beginning of this episode, John and Abigail return to their home and Abby and Sally with their children are living there. Colonial Smith went to the west to search for a job because he developed a bad reputation in Boston and was not hired anywhere. Abby needed a doctor because she had breast cancer. The doctor said that he knew no other way than the knife so he amputated it. A few weeks later the same pain started to come back and instead of calling the doctor she died. Sally took care of all of the children, hers and Abby's. Then one day Abigail dies and John Adams was too upset for words. John Adams and Thomas Jefferson used to be best friends and then they got into a fight and separated. They start writing and they become friends again, they where both old and dying. John Quincy Adams becomes president just long enough for his father to be proud. John Adams and Thomas Jefferson both die on July 4th.

In his episode I feel really bad for John Adams, he loses a daughter and a wife only a few weeks apart. John Adams is very upset through out the whole episode, not even his son becoming president can cheer him up.

This was my favorite episode of the whole series, but I didn't like how everyone died. I feel really bad for Sally, I think that she should have hired someone to help her watch all of those kids. I also liked how John Adams and Thomas Jefferson both died on the same day. I hated how they made John Adams lie in the bed with Abigail as she was dying, I thought that was so sad.

I predicted that John Adams was going to die after John Quincy Adams became president, I was right. I am happy that this happened because I think that John Adams was very proud of him. I also made a connection to what we learned in class. We learned that John Quincy Adams was the 6th president.

The writer of this series, Kirk Ellis also has written Untitled Jakie Robinson Project, Into the West, Anne Frank: The Whole Story, The Three Stooges, The Beach Boys: An American Family, The Grass Harp, The Naked Truth, Hired to Kill, and Nightmare at Noon. The only show that I have seen of his is John Adams, but I am looking forward to see the rest.

John Adams #6

In the beginning of this episode, Alexander Hamilton and John Adams get into a fight about the war. Alexander Hamilton is very concerned about the clothes and John Adams is more concerned about the actual fighting. John Adams also kicks Charles out of the family because when he goes to visit him he was lying drunk on the table. He was ashamed to be his father so he removed him from the family. Later, he got sick and he went to live with Sally in the Adams' house while Abigail and John lived in the White House. He died and Abigail was so upset, John Adams tried not to look or feel upset but he was distraught in the inside.

John Adams in this episode is so heartless. I can't believe that he kicked Charles out of the family. I think that what Charles did was bad, he shouldn't drink, but I don't think that John should have just abandoned him. I also didn't like the way that he pretended not to care when Charles was dead.

Something that I liked about this show was how Abigail let Sally and Charles live in their house, even though according to John he was no longer a family member. I didn't like how Charles didn't even try to stop drinking after he had 3 kids and a wife. I think that he should have been more responsible and got a job, especially not drink so much in front of his children.

In this show I made the prediction that Charles was going to die and he did. I also made a connection to what we learned in school. We learned that John Adams was the first president to live in the White House.

The writer of this series, Kirk Ellis also has written Untitled Jakie Robinson Project, Into the West, Anne Frank: The Whole Story, The Three Stooges, The Beach Boys: An American Family, The Grass Harp, The Naked Truth, Hired to Kill, and Nightmare at Noon. The only show that I have seen of his is John Adams, but I am looking forward to see the rest.

John Adams #5

In this episode John Adams is elected vice president. He gets unhappy when Colonial Smith asks John Adams for his blessing to marry his daughter. John Adams yells at him and says no way. Abigail talks to him so he reconsidered and let the two marry. Months later they have their fist child. Charles asked his father for his blessing to get married to a girl named Sally and again John says absolutely not. Charles and John Adams got into a fight when Charles yells at him for never paying attention to him as a kid and leaving him in the care of tutors. Charles gets married to Sally anyway and then they have a child. While all of this is happening Alexander Hamilton and Thomas Jefferson are trying to spilt into two groups called the Federalists and the Republicans. George Washington and John Adams both don't approve of the idea. After George Washington served two terms John Adams was elected president.

In this episode John Adams is very cranky and he is always mad. I hate his attitude the most in this episode because he becomes president and vice president and he acts like he doesn't even care. I also especially don't like the way he treats Colonial Smith and Charles in this show.

Something that I liked about this episode was that Abby and Colonial Smith got married and had a child. I think that is something to bring up the mood of this episode instead of all of the fighting going on. Another good thing was how Charles and Sally got married. The other things that I enjoyed in this episode was the fact that John was elected both president and vice president.

A strategy that I used was making predictions and making connections. The prediction that I made was that I predicted that even though John said Charles couldn't get married he would do it anyway and he did. A connection that I made was to my humanities class, we learned that John Adams was the 2nd president and the 1st vice president.

The writer of this series, Kirk Ellis also has written Untitled Jakie Robinson Project, Into the West, Anne Frank: The Whole Story, The Three Stooges, The Beach Boys: An American Family, The Grass Harp, The Naked Truth, Hired to Kill, and Nightmare at Noon. The only show that I have seen of his is John Adams, but I am looking forward to see the rest.

John Adams #4

In the beginning of this episode he goes to Holland and the Dutch loan money to John Adams for the war. It took a while to convince them but he did so he got money from them. After that John Adams returns to France and Abagail meets him there. They left their children in the care of tutors the rest of there schooling until Charles, (the smallest son) is at least 18. John Adams also invited the Adams' great friend Thomas Jefferson. Thomas Jefferson always seemed to be sad because his wife and child both recently passed away. While in Paris they also see Ben Franklin with a new wife. During their visit John has a meeting with King George III and it goes very well. In the end of this episode John and Abigail return to Boston and reunite with their children. They find out that Charles has a drinking problem, John Quincy has a serious relationship and Colonial Smith and Abby start to like each other.

In this episode John Adams makes me feel bad for his children. I think that Charles is the way that he is because his parents both left the country at a very young age. I do not like the way that John treats his family, he is so strict I think that people are actually scared of him.

I liked how the Adams' family was reunited in this episode and I am happy that they weren't apart for way too long. I don't like the children's personalities though, I think that Abby is too quiet, John Quincy is too proper, Thomas is okay and Charles is too rebellious. I also don't like how they kind of left Thomas Jefferson in France alone.

In this episode I made a prediction that John Adams is going to get really mad at Charles for drinking. Another strategy that I used was that I made a connection between episodes. I connected the 3rd episode and this episode because in the 3rd one John gets sick. In the forth he is still very sick.

The writer of this series, Kirk Ellis also has written Untitled Jakie Robinson Project, Into the West, Anne Frank: The Whole Story, The Three Stooges, The Beach Boys: An American Family, The Grass Harp, The Naked Truth, Hired to Kill, and Nightmare at Noon. The only show that I have seen of his is John Adams, but I am looking forward to see the rest.

John Adams #2

In the beginning of this episode, the Continental Congress gets a letter saying that anyone that doesn't listen to a British officer will be killed. After that John Adams asked Thomas Jefferson to write a Deceleration of Independence. John Adams and George Washington love the document that Thomas Jefferson made and they show it to the Continental Congress. At John's house all of them get vaccinated for small pox, because it was going around. A few days after they got vaccinated Abby (the daughter) gets them. While this is going on George Washington and his troops were fighting at the battle of Fort Ticonderoga where the Colonies obtained some new weapons.

In this episode John Adams seems like he is bossing everyone around. I didn't like the way that he ordered Thomas Jefferson to write the Declaration of Independence. I also didn't like the way that he barely cared that his daughter had small pox, a life threatening sickness.

Something that I liked about this episode was that the 13 Colonies were finally free from Britain! I also really liked the Declaration of Independence that Thomas Jefferson wrote. I did not like how Abby got the small pox and I also didn't like the way that they were vaccinated. That part made me turn away, I can't believe that's how people were treated instead of shots.

One reading strategy that I used in this episode was that I made a prediction that Abby would get better and she did! I also made a connection to the other episode that I saw, (the first one, Join or Die) the way that the Continental Congress meetings were held.

The writer of this series, Kirk Ellis also has written Untitled Jakie Robinson Project, Into the West, Anne Frank: The Whole Story, The Three Stooges, The Beach Boys: An American Family, The Grass Harp, The Naked Truth, Hired to Kill, and Nightmare at Noon. The only show that I have seen of his is John Adams, but I am looking forward to see the rest.

John Adams #1

In the beginning John was returning to Boston after a trip. When he came home he heard gun shots so he went into town and saw British solders firng at people in a crowd. A few days later John was called into court to represent the military official. John Adams didn't want to lose so he tyred everything in his power to find the truth. It turned out that the official was Innocent because the crowd was tormenting the solders. They were throwing rocks and screaming mean things out to them so the solders fired there guns into the horrible crowd. There was a witness that said that someone had yelled fire, but it was not the Captain. The whole thing was a misunderstanding. After the trial, John went down to the harbour and he witnessed a British tax collector get tar and feathered. The tax collector said that they needed to pay the tax in order to get the tea and someone said to tar and feather him so they did. When he went home he was asked to be a member in the Continental Congress, or it was a group of politicians (I don't remember). He went and volunteered George Washington to be the general of the Revolutionary War.

The main character of this episode was John Adams. I don't like his personality at all. I think that he was a good lawyer, but I don't think that he should have volunteered George Washington without asking him. Another thing that I did like about him though, was that he felt bad when they tared and feathered that Innocent man.

Something that I really liked about this episode was how the court seemed so realistic. I loved the way that he questioned everything and I thought that that was very well done. Another thing that I loved about this episode was how the jail that the Captain and the solders were put in looked so real, I felt like I was right there watching when this took place.

A reading strategy that I used was making predicting, when prediction that I made was that I thought that the townspeople would get mad at John Adams for representing that British man in court, but luckily my prediction was wrong. Another strategy that I used was that I made a connection to my humanities class. I made this connection because we learned about people getting tarred and feathered and we also learned about the Boston Massacre.

The writer of this series, Kirk Ellis also has written Untitled Jakie Robinson Project, Into the West, Anne Frank: The Whole Story, The Three Stooges, The Beach Boys: An American Family, The Grass Harp, The Naked Truth, Hired to Kill, and Nightmare at Noon. The only show that I have seen of his is John Adams, but I am looking forward to see the rest.

Everything On A Waffle

In the beginning, Primrose's parents got lost at sea and she was convinced that they were still alive. Primrose kept telling everyone that her parents were still alive, but no one believed her. She got moved into her Uncle Jack's house because he was her closest relative. After about a week in Uncle Jack's care, all of the kids made fun of her. The reason why the people made fun of her was because they thought she was crazy because she believed that her aprents were still alive. Another reason why everyone was making fun of her was that Uncle Jack was a developer. No one in Coal Haubor wanted there to be torists, they liked teh small population. Then, about a week later, Uncle Jack took Primrose to try and sell a house. When they got there, Primrose fell and skinned her knee. Uncle Jack told Primrose to just stay in the car while he showed the house. After a while, Primrose started to get board, so she got out of the car and started to run. She was just running for fun when she came to a road. She decided to cross the road, and half way through her skinned knee started to hurt so she knelt down to look at it. Suddenly, Primrose heard a truck, she saw it coming at her, and that was all she remembered. Hours later, Primrose woke up, she thought that she was dead. Then, she heard Uncle Jack and he told her what had happened. She had gotten hit by the truck, went uncountious and get her pinky toe decapitated. When Primrose got back to school, everyone was nice to her. Primrose didn't understand why until she heard two girls talking about her. They said that everyone was beeing nice to her because Miss. Honeycutt told them that she was suicidle. Then Primrose understod why everyone was offering to hold her books and was beeing so nice to her. Her Uncle Jack also told some fo the boys that they could use their gym for a hockey team if Primrose could be teh goalie. The boys exepted, but soon they dictched her. Then, one day Primrose was looking out at the ocean while she was holding a fishing net. The fishing net got caught to the dock and the wave knocked Primrose of of her feet. Primrose's hand got mangled in the net and had to get the tip of her left ring finger taken off. After that, they took Primrose out of Uncle Jack's house and put her in foster care. Her foster parents, Evie and Bert, were very nice kindhearted people. They even moved to Coal Haurbor just for Primrose. They moved into one of Uncle Jack's townhouses and were very happy. One day, Uncle Jack, Evie, Bert and Primrose went to a resteraunt for dinner. All of the sudden and fire alarm sounded, Uncle Jack was a volunteer fire fighter so he left. Evie, Bert and Primrose rused to the site of the fire...it was the townhouses! Then, the fire fighters found out that someone was still in the building, it was Miss. Honeycutt. Even though she was the one that removed Primrose from Uncle Jack's care, he went in to save her. When they were coming out, Uncle Jack gave her his special coat to protect her, then a huge piece of burning wood fell onto Uncle Jack's back! Miss. Honeycutt got out saftley while Uncle Jack suffered thrid degree burns. The bad and sad part is that Miss. Honeycutt suided him for lost of vaulbles! In the end, Primrose's parents comeback and take Primrose back.

The main character Primrose is determind that her parents are going to come back. Everyone tells her they aren't but she doesn't believe them. She is also very happy for a person missing a toe and a finger. She is very independent, I don't like that about her.

Something that I liked about this book is that Primrose doesn't seem to mind that everyone else thinks that her parents are dead. She also doesn't let her amount of fingers and toes bother her.i dilike how she is always being moved from place to place.

A reading straegy that I used was making predictions, I predicted that Primrose's parents would come back in the end and they did. Another strategy that I used was a book to book connection, I connected this book to How I Survived Being a Girl. Both girls were alone most of the book and I felt bad for both of them.

The author, Polly Horvath also has written The Trolls, The Vacation, The Canning Season, The Pepins and and Their Problems, When the Circus Came to Town, The Corpse of Bare-Boned Planes, The Happy Yellow Car, No More Cornflakes, and An Occasional Cow.

John Adams #3

In the beginning John told Abagail that he had to go to Paris and Abigail got mad. She didn't want him to go because the family needed him. John won the fight and went to Paris, but he had to bring his son John Quincy Adams with him. On the boat ride there, John got sick and there was also a battle between his ship and a British ship. John's ship won but the captain's leg got blown off by a backfired cannon. John Adams picked him up and brought him down to the bottom of the ship to the surgeon. The surgeon saw the captain's leg off and it was really gross, I couldn't look. Then when John Quincy Adams and John Adams got to France they meet Benjamin Franklin, then Franklin told john Adams that he all ready made the treaty. John Adams was really mad at Benjamin Franklin for making the treaty with out him, he took john Quincy and went to his room. That night there was a dinner party and John Adams was a huge hit. The next day Ben Franklin and John Adams met with someone about the treaty and greatly disrespected him. Ben Franklin then mailed a letter to Congress saying what happened and they kicked John Adams out and sent him to the Netherlands. John Adams got money from them and became very sick. Then he sent his 14 year old son to Russia to be this man's secretary. In the end, John Adams became so sick he was seeing double and was dizzy.


The main character of this series is john Adams. John Adams seems like a very up-tight man who is very strict. I don't think that I would like him if he was alive in this time period. he is the protagonist of the story and the antagonist is the British and anyone that doesn't believe what he believes. Some other characters are, Abigail Adams, John Quincy Adams, the rest of his children, Ben Franklin, George Washington, and Thomas Jefferson.


I really like this TV series, I think that this is an interesting show and it is educational. I really like how all of the show is "historically accurate." I dislike how sometimes I do not understand what is going on or where they are. I also get confused by how they speak. other than that i really like this series.

The writer of this series, Kirk Ellis also has written Untitled Jakie Robinson Project, Into the West, Anne Frank: The Whole Story, The Three Stooges, The Beach Boys: An American Family, The Grass Harp, The Naked Truth, Hired to Kill, and Nightmare at Noon. The only show that I have seen of his is John Adams, but I am looking forward to see the rest.

A stragegy that I used while reading this book was that I made a prediction that Ben Franklin would stay in France. I was right about my prediction. I also made a connection to my life because once, my mom, dad and sisters went to Montaulk and forgot me at my cousins house. I had to stay there for the weekend. This episode reminds me of that.

One of Those Hideous Books Where the Mother Dies

In the beginning of this book, Ruby was depressed and in denial. She was upset because her mother had died. Her mother and she were very close; they knew almost everything about each other. One of the only tings that Ruby didn’t know about her mom was about her marriage to her movie star father. Ruby wouldn’t have even known about her father if her aunt didn’t take Ruby to the movies every time one of his came out. Ruby’s mother did not know about these trips to the movie theater because she didn’t want Ruby to know anything about her dad. Her mother never fully healed from when her husband left her. Ruby was so upset when her mother died and she had to go and move in with her father in Los Angles. When Ruby got to L.A., she spotted her father right away, (a huge group of people were all crowded around something or someone in the middle of the airport.) Then Ruby’s dad, Whip Logan, spotted her he walked over to her with one of his “movie star smiles.” He said that she must be Ruby and he walked her over to the limo. Ruby showed no interest in anything because she said that he never showed any interest in her. When they got home, Ruby walked in and was amazed, even though she did not show it. When Whip Logan showed her to her room, she thought that was even better then the foyer. It was her dream room, she said that she had once written a story about her dream room and it won a writing contest. She was so exited, but she still didn’t show it. When she went to school the next day her dad insisted on driving her. Ruby did not want everyone to see her dad and treat her different, but when she saw his cars she couldn’t say no. All of his cars were classics, and those were her favorite kind. When she got to school and the teachers found out that Whip Logan was her dad they started treating her special. They got her and escort and she soon became Ruby’s new best friend. Their parents co-stared in a movie together so they called each other “sis.” Ruby signed up for a dream interpretation elective, Colette was in that class too! The only problem was, Ruby hadn’t been having any dreams. The next day the class found out that one of the students got into a car accident the night before. Everyone knew him and they were all very upset so school got cancelled for the rest of the day. When Ruby got home no one was there so she let herself in, and the alarm went off. The police came and they were about to arrest her because they didn’t know that Whip Logan had a daughter, then Whip came home and cleared things up. That night Ruby had a strange dream, the phone was ringing. When Ruby picked up it was her mom and she said, “Ruby, how’s your father doing? Get out of the house Ruby, get out!” Then Ruby woke up and got out of bed, she walked to the place that the boy got killed and started crying, Whip flowed her and then there was an earthquake! When Ruby got back home she went into her room and saw the huge bookshelf next to her bed smashed right on top of her bed. If she was still sleeping she would have been dead. That was when her father told Ruby why he left her mother…because he was gay. Then everyone became happy and they all loved each other.

The main character of my book is Ruby. Ruby had red hair, freckles and she was depressed. Ruby had a best friend and a boyfriend. Her boyfriend was named Ray and she really liked him, well in the beginning. Lizzie was Ruby's best friend, in the beginning too, before the incident of Ray cheating on Ruby with Lizzie. In the end Ruby stopped being depressed and started liking L.A. and her dad.

One thing that I liked about this book was the format that it was written. I like how they were kind of like diary entries, but it was in present tense. I like how there are a lot of teenage issues in this book, even though some of her problems are things that I have never heard anyone in our school talk about...thank god. I dislike how Ruby is so young and she is doing and thinking about some really inappropriate things. I also like how through out the book she is sort of depressed.

Two reading strategies that I used in this book were visualising and I made connections. I made a connection to the book What My Mother Doesn't Know. I think that I made this connection because the books are very similar, they are even by the same author. The format is the same too. I visualized Ruby when she was being described, tall. red hair and freckles. Those where the reading strategies that I used while reading this book.

The author of my book, Sonya Sones has also written What my Girlfriend Doesn't Know, What My Mother Doesn't Know, Stop Pretending-what happened when my big sister went crazy, Sixteen:stories of the sweet but bitter birthday, Necessary Noise, Love and Sex.

What My Mother Doesn't Know

In the beginning of this book, Sophie was “in love” with a boy named Lou. When Lou broke up with her on the last day of eighth grade she was really upset. Then on the way home from a party Sophie met Dylan. Sophie really liked Dylan so they started to date. Then they kissed, a lot, which I didn’t enjoy very much. Sophie and Dylan went out on lots of dates, and then they didn’t really like each other very much anymore. When Grace started telling Sophie and Rachel about her new boyfriend, Sophie then realized how that she didn’t even really like Dylan. So she broke up with him the next chance that she had. Then Sophie went to the Halloween dance, her mother wanted her to buy this very frilly dress, but Sophie had other plans. She wanted to get this slim fitting black sparkly dress; she said that she wanted to look good, not funny. So with her mom she bought the pink dress, but after babysitting for one week, she went back to buy the black one. Sophie’s plan was to wear the pink dress to her best friend Rachel’s house, and when she got there she changed into the black dress. While Sophie was at the party, she danced with this guy that she immediately fell in love with. Unfortunately, she didn’t know who he was because she couldn’t see his face. He was dressed as something with a mask so the only thing that Sophie remembered about him when he left was his forearms. When the last song had played, Sophie left thinking about this person in the mask, she was so caught up in her thoughts, and she forgot to change back into the ugly pink frilly dress! When her mom saw the dress, she went crazy and didn’t speak to Sophie for about a week. Finally, her mother accepted her apology, and they started acting like a family again. Then, since it was the December break, everyone was on vacation. Sophie was board being home alone, and since her parents could never afford to go on vacation Sophie thought that she would act like she was a tourist and see all the sites. When she was at the art museum, she saw the geekiest boy in her whole school, Murphy. He came over and they started talking, then somehow, they were ice skating together on a pond. Sophie couldn’t believe that she did that but she really liked it, so they went out every weekend. Then one day she heard his mom call him Robin, so then she told all of her friends that she was dating Robin, not Murphy. When Sophie’s friends came back, she didn’t tell anyone that she was dating Murphy, she also prevented Rachel and Grace from “meeting Robin”. So when they went back to school, Sophie walked into the lunch room and saw Robin waving at her, then she saw Rachel and Grace waving at her…she had to choose. Then she had an idea, she waved to Rachel and Grace to follow her as she sat a Murphy/Robin’s table. Then, Sophie introduced Grace and Rachel to Robin…they were disgusted. For once, Sophie didn’t worry about what everyone else thought, she liked Robin and that was all that mattered.

The protagonist of this story was Sophie. Sophie didn't really care about her mom or family. Her family was poor and they got into a lot of fights. I think that is why Sophie was so boy crazy, because she had to get away and get her mind off of her family. I do not really agree with the way that Sophie spent her time. I think that she should have been spending more time with her family, it might have brought them closer. I didn't really like Sophie as a person, so if she went to our school, I probably would not be her friend.

Something that I really liked about this book is the way that it is written. I like how they are like poems in a non-poetic form. I also like how this book was all about what kids do and do not tell their parents. I do not like how the author made everyone do all of these things that 9th graders should not be doing. All around I liked this book, even though not everything in it I approved of.

Two reading strategies that I used while reading this book were visualization and I made a connection. I made a connection to the book One of Those Hideous Books Where the Mother Dies, the thing that I found similar was how they were both written in a poetic style, but they both weren't exactly poems. I visualized Sophie's mother sitting in a bed, eating chocolate kisses and crying with the glow of the TV being the only light source of the entire basement.

The author of this book, Sonya Sones has also written What My Girlfriend Doesn't Know, One of Those Hideous Books Where the Mother Dies, Stop Pretending:What happened When My Big Sister Went Crazy, Sixteen:Stories of the Sweet and Bitter Birthday, Necessary Noise, and Love and Sex.

Call of the Wild

In the beginning of the book, Buck was a housedog. Then one of the gardeners sold him to people that needed sleddog teams in Alaska while minning for gold. Buck didn't like it because the men beat him. After they got half way, the team was sold again, to a cook in one of the villages. The cook was nice, he always let them relax peacefully. The dogs were so worn out because they ran 2,500 miles and only got a weeks rest untill they were sold again to this family that new nothing about sledding. The family over packed the sledd and whipped, clubed and harrassed the dogs if they didn't run fast enough, they would not let them rest, so the dogs were on the verge of dying, They started out with a team of 14 dogs, Buck as the leader. And by the time that they reached one town there were only 7 dogs left, including Buck. The mean humans let the dogs rest for a little bit, but Buck couldn't get up when he was demanded to. So, Hal, one of the mean people started clubbing him, and just as he was almost dead a man named John said, "If youy hit him one more tim, I will kill you." After that, Hal thought that Buck was dead anyway, and gave him to John. John let Buck rest as long as he needed. John had two other dogs named Nig and Skeet. Buc k loved John, he loved him more than his original owner, more than anything. Buck saved John's life twice, John loved Buck just as much. When John's colleges came back for him after his feet froze, they went to go look for gold. When they found a valley abundant with it, they stayed there. Buck got in touch with his wild side, and went into the woods for weeks on end hunting and killing...he became obsessed. One day when Buck came back to the valley after a week of killing moose, his intstincts told him that something was wrong. When he got back, Skeet, Nig, Hans, Charles, and most importantly, John were dead with feathered arrows in them. Buck found the Native American tribe that did this and killed the cheif and many others too. Then the Native American tribe feared Buck and the wolf pack he joined for the rest of their lives.


The protagonist of this book was Buck, and the antagoinist was mainly nature. Buck was a corageus, brave, smart dog...everyone in Alaska knew his name. He was also loyal and playful. If I ever got a dog, I'd want one like him.


I really liked this book. At first I didn't like the idea of a dog speaking in first person. Than I got used to it and I relized it would be bad anyother way. I tought that the title was pefect. One thing I didn't like wa near the end it got boring and I din't want to read it any more. All around, I say it was a great book.


Two reading stratigies that I used while reading this book were visualization, and connection making. I visualized the wolfs attacking the dog team, and I made a book to book connection. The book that I connected this one to was calles Stone Fox. I read that book four years ago, and that one was about the Alasken gold rush and sledding too. That is how I used my reading stratigies while reading this book.


The author, Jack London has also writen were... Martin Eden, White Fang, The Sea-Wolf, and Iorn Heel. You can also click on this web page to find out more about him... http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jack_London


And sorry about the spelling and the picture, but it will not work, I will try and put it on later.

So B. It

In the beginning of this book Heidi was happy. She lived with her Mama and Bernadette, her neighbor. Her mother was mentally challenged and only knew 23 words. Heidi loved her mom and Bernie. Then in the middle of the book, Heidi starts to want to know about her past, so she bought a bus ticket to Liberty, New York. In Liberty, there is a place called Hilltop Home and according to an old camera Heidi found in the junk draw, was where her mother used to live. Heidi didn't know anybody else in the entire world besides Bernie and Mama, Bernie had AP-a fear of going outside so Heidi never went outside until she was old enough to go alone. So Heidi wanted to find out about her past, when was her birthday, who was her grandparent, who was her dad, and most importantly...what was soof? Soof was a word that her mother often said, and Heidi wanted to know what it was. When Bernie found out about the ticket to Liberty, she was fuming. Heidi was only 12 and her mother was afraid of buses, and Liberty was halfway across the country, because they lived in Reno, Nevada. Bernie realized that nothing was going to stop Heidi from going so she let her. When Heidi finally arrived, she got to Hilltop Home and they would not talk to her, Thurman Hill refused. Luckily, the secretary Ruby and her husband decided to take Heidi in until she left. Bernie kept calling through out her stay and kept telling her to come home, because Heidi's mother and her needed her. Then the next day when she came back to Hilltop Home she found out that her father was Elliot, Thurman Hill's son, and he too was a gust at Hilltop Home. Heidi also found out that her mother's real name was Sophia Lynne DeMuth, not So B. It, the name that she called herself. Mama's mother was named Diane DeMuth, and she was hit by a bus, that was why Mama was afraid of them. It turns out that Diane conned Thurman Hill into letting Sophia stay in Hilltop Home for free, and when he found out that she was pregnant, he paid a small fortune to go away and never come back. That was why when he saw Heidi he wouldn't talk to her, he thought that her grandmother sent her to get more money from him. Then Ruby got a disturbing call from Bernie, Mama was dead. She died in er sleep while she was having a bad headache. That was when Heidi found out what soof was, it was Mama's word for love.


I really liked this book, in some spots I cried and in other parts smiled. I didn't like how slow it was in the beginning and how fast it was at the end, I thought that the author should space it out more. Also in some spots it was very confusing. Overall, I would give this book two thumbs up!


The main character in this book was Heidi. I would describe Heidi as adventurous and daring. I am 12 too, and I don't think that I could have taken a bus across the country all by myself. Another word that I would describe Heidi as would be curious. She rode a three day bus trip across the country mainly just to find out the meaning of a four letter word...soof. I wish I could be more like Heidi, but I'm happy that I know who I am and my mom is still alive.


Two reading strategies that I used while reading this book was making connections, and visualization. When Heidi described the beautiful plant in the corner of the office, I pictured a big tree with gorgeous flowers hanging down from it. I could also picture another trunk that wrapped around the other trunk. I made a book to life connection because, when they described Hilltop Home, I pictured something that looked like my old doctors office. So I saw in my mind all the events in this book going on in the doctors office.


Sarah Weeks, the author of this book, was also the author of... Jumping The Scratch, and 40 other books that I had just typed and they all accidentally got deleted, and there was no way for me to get them back. You can see a list of her books at http://sarahweeks.com/books.htm

Secret Silent Screams

In the beginning Marti's best friend Barry died. The police believed that Barry killed himself, when Marti knows he didn't. So she went to the police to tell them what she knew to prove that Barry was murdered. The police officer didn't believe her so Marti got mad and tried to investigate herself. Then one day on her way home from school, Marti saw a gray van following her, and she was scared to death. Then she finds out that the gun that Barry used to kill himself was actually Charlie's. They used it for their dance in the talent show and no one knew about the gun except. Charlie, Barry, Tony, or Thad...or so they thought. One day Marti was sitting in Literacy Class and Thad's brother Emmet asked her to copy something down for him. She happily did but she didn't realize what he was really doing. Emmet's bother Thad was in jail, because of Charlie, Tony and Barry. Thad was trying to convince them to rob a bank, but they refused. So one day, Thad took their gun and robbed a jewelry store. Barry, Thad, Charlie and Tony were a part of a group called the Cuatros, they thought that they were best friends. But, when Thad went to court he tried to get them to lie under oath. The remaining Cuatros ended up testifying against him, that is how Thad went to jail. The day after Emmet had asked Marti to copy something down for him she saw Tony doing it for him too, but Tony's said, "I do not fear death any longer, when the hounds of spring are on winter's traces." And that was where Marti interrupted them. That is when she realized what it really was, a fake suicide note. It was Emmet!!!!!!! He did the same thing to Barry...and Marti. When Marti got home that day, she found the notes that she copied for Emmet the previous day, "I warmed both my hands before the fire of life, it sinks and I am ready to depart." Marti froze, and when she turned around Emmet was there, with the Cuatros' gun. He told her his plans, and they were to kill Barry, her, Charlie, and Tony because of what they did to his brother. Then Marti knocked him out with a lamp and then the police came. Emmet was arrested and no one else died!

I thought that this book was good, it was boring in some parts but I still liked it. It was very suspenseful in some parts, so it kept me wanting to read it. I liked how the author of the book was so descriptive of everything, I always have tons of questions at the end of books, but not this one. I didn't like how the story was setup, like I thought that the end should have been more in the middle. Other wise, I really recommend this book to people that love mysteries.

The main character of this book was Marti, and she was very curious. She always wanted to know everything. She also seemed like she couldn't control her emotions. Marti also seemed like a softy on the inside and tough on the outside. People also believed that she was crazy because they thought that she just couldn't let go that Barry committed suicide.

Two reading strategies that I used while reading this book were one, visualization and two, making book to book connections. One thing that I visualized while reading this book was Barry's room when Marti was describing it, I felt like I was really there. On thing in this book that I made connections to was when people thought that she was crazy when she said that Barry didn't kill himself. I made a connection to the book Down a Dark Hall because in that book people thought that Kit was crazy because she saw people sometimes when she was walking the halls, she also saw her dad right when he died to say goodbye. Those were the two reading strategies that I used while reading this book.

The author of this book, Joan Lowery Nixion also wrote were, The Haunting, Search for the Shadowman, Name of the Game was Murder, The Other Side of Dark, The Weekend was Murder, Making of a Writer, Caught in the ACT, The Ghosts of Now, The Kidnapping of Christina Lattimore, and The Dark and Deadly Pool.

Down a Dark Hall

In the beginning of the story, Kit's mom and her step dad Dan were going on their honeymoon, so Kit was going to a all girls boarding school for 2 months while her parents were in Europe. Kit signed up to go to Blackwood School for Girls, when they first arrived at Blackwood, one word came into Kit's head...evil. After Kit's parents leave her there, things start to get weird, only four girls were accepted. All the girls have one thing in common, they have ESP. The book, they all find out that they are all a part of a "evil" project, the professors are using their ESP to transport dead gifted people like artists and poets while dreaming. The girls are writing the works of art that they never had enough time to complete. Kit and her new friends do not except this concept, all except Lynda. The girls find out one stormy night that after a month or two, their work would start to get bad. This would happen because bad artist, poets, etc. would start to come into their body's. That stormy night they also find out that the girls in all of the schools ran by the Madame, were closed because every person that went there either committed suicide trying to escape, or were in a mental institution. so to escape, the girls set the building on fire and escape, Kit almost didn't make it out the first time, but she finally did in the end.

I thought that this book was good, it wasn't the best but I liked it. I would recommend this book to someone that likes supernatural mystery books.I think that the book didn't really have a point to it. One thing that I liked about this book was that it was long. I really like long books because I never want them to end (if they are good books.) So that was my thoughts about this book.

The characters in this book were mostly rebellious. Kit hated everything that they were doing to her. Sandy was also rebellious, but she was more of a follower of Kit than an individual person. Ruth liked everything that was going on, she thought that it was a great idea until Madame told the girls about the suicides and mental institution. Lynda was basically out of it, she stayed in her room and painted all day. So her soul was almost gone before they escaped.

Two reading strategies that I used while reading this book was visualization and making connections. I visualized Kit's dorm room, everything covered in red velvet. I made a book to life connection when I visualized Blackwood School for Girls just like my best friend Brianna's house. Those were some of the reading strategies that I used while reading this book.

The author, Lois Duncan, was a very good author in my view because I liked the style that she writes in. Some more books that Lois Duncan wrote are Song of the Circus, On the Edge, Trapped, Gallows Hill, Physic Connections, Don 't Look Behind You, Birthday Moon, The Twisted Widow, Locked in Time, The Third Eye, Terrible Tails of the Happy Days School, Stranger with My Face, Daughters of Eve, Summer of Fear, Killing Mr. Griffin, I Know What You Did Last Summer, A Gift of Magic, Hotel for Dogs, They Never Came Home, Five Were Missing, Ransom, Who Killed My Daughter, My Growth as a Writer, and How To Write and Sell Your Personal Experiences.

Tangerine

In the beginning of this book, Paul's family actually seemed normal. He had a brother, a mom and a dad. When I started to read more into the book I found out that Erik, (the brother) was hiding something, his dad was obsessed with Erik and he didn't care about anyone else. I learned that Paul's mom loved houses, she wanted everything to be perfect, very Perice and sequential...that was for you Mrs. Woodman! Paul, was sick of living in his brother's shadow and he also knew that Eric had something to do with his mysterious glasses. Everyone told him that he "looked into a solar eclipse without any eye protection and was now partially blind," but Paul is almost positive that was not what happened. Near the middle of the book, Paul started to go to Lake Windsor Downs Middle School, until one day when a huge sinkhole appeared and destroyed half of the school. The options were to either go to Tangerine Middle School or still go to Lake Windsor Downs Middle School, but have school from 1-6, Paul decided to go to Tangerine Middle School instead. Paul joined the soccer team and really liked it, meanwhile, Erik shared the stardom on the football field with their amazing quarterback Antonie Thomas. In the end, Erik went to jail for robbing peoples houses and his dad was crushed, the Erik Fisher Football dream was no longer in existence. Paul finally found out about his blindness, by having a flashback...it was Erik! Erik and is friend spray painted his eyes gray because he wouldn't do something for him. I really liked the end!


There were a lot of characters in this book, it was very hard to keep track of them all, but some of the main ones were... Paul, Paul's mom, Paul's dad, Erik, Joey Costello, Mike Costello, Antonie Thomas, and Arther. My favorite out of all of these people is Antonie Thomas, because he inspires people everywhere with his will to tell the truth. I didn't mention Joey and Mike Costello in this, but they were very important in this book. Mike was dead by the middle of the book, he was struck by lighting, but he was referred to many times. Joey Costello was Mike's younger brother and Paul's best friend.


I really like how Edward Bloor made this book sort of science fiction and regular fiction. I liked this because I don't really like science fiction books, but this book was really good because it was about a normal person with weird things happening to them. I didn't like how there were so many flashbacks and characters in this book, but other wise...I LOVE IT!!


Two reading startigies that I used while reading this book were visualization and I made connections. When Paul described his house, I saw it exactly how he described it. One thing that I made connections with was that I made a book to life connection. Paul's neighborhood was alot like my grandma's. She lives in Florida too and lives in a development. That was how I used my reading startigies with this book.


Some more books by Edward Bloor are Story Time, Crusader, London Calling, and Taken. I have not gotten a chance to read any of these books yet, but I hope I can in the future.