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.