bookblog

 

The Premise

          

           The book I read was called Tangerine by Edward Bloor. The story takes place in Tangerine,

 

Florida. In the beginning, Paul Fisher, his brother, Erik, his mom, and his dad move from Texas to

 

Florida. Erik Fisher is a high school football player and his dad supports him a little too much. Paul

 

Fisher, on the other hand, doesn't get much support from his dad because he plays soccer. Paul is

 

legally blind but he can see perfectly, according to him, when he wears his glasses. The story that

 

Paul thinks is the reason he became blind was when he was in kindergarten, he stared at the sun

 

during and eclipse. As Paul and Erik start at their new school, Erik joins the football team and Paul

 

joins the soccer team. What's more strange about a legally blind kid playing soccer is that Paul is a

 

goalie. Paul was going to be their main goalie for the soccer team but later on, the coach tells Paul he

 

can't play on the team anymore because he is visually handicapped and they can t get insurance for

 

him.

Significant Passage

          

         "Erik got out of the passenger side and walked up to Mom, slowly and solemnly. Arthur got out

 

and followed him. Erik stopped just inside the garage and said, "Mike Costello is dead, Mom. He got

 

killed at practice today." Mom and I stopped still, the supermarket bags weighing down our arms.

 

Neither of us moved, or knew what to do next. We stared at him, speechless, until he continued in the

 

same voice. "He was just standing there in the end zone. He had one hand on the goalpost, leaning on

 

it, and kaboom! There was a crack, and a flash, and he went flying through the air. He landed right on

 

his back, right there on the goal line."(Bloor 49)

 

 

          That passage was about a boy on Erik's football team who was at practice and got struck by

 

lightning when lightning hit the goal post which he was leaning and holding onto. In the book, it says

 

almost everyday they have a lightning storm around the same time. That is also the exact same time

 

the football team practices.  

 

 

 

bookblog

 

 

Premise

 

       The book I read was called Private Games by James Patterson. It's is a fiction book about a

 

character named Peter Knight. The story takes place in London and in 2012. Knight works for Private

 

International and has to work to find a murderer. The murderer calls himself Cronus and he has

 

different partners that work for him. Cronus was targeting the 2012 London Olympics and killed

 

coaches, Olympic athletes, and others. Cronus planned to ruin the entire 2012 Olympics but things

 

took a different direction.

Spoiler Alert

       

        The ending of the book was mostly about Cronus planning to bomb a stadium where a main

 

event was going on. Before the day Cronus tries to bomb the stadium, he kidnaps Knight's two kinds,

 

but he doesn't realize that the two kids had tracking devices on them. Knight goes alone to get his

 

kids, but ends up getting caught by Cronus also. Cronus leaves Knight and the kids with one of his

 

partners but Knight somehow manages to escape with both of his kids. He then goes to the event

 

where Cronus was going to bomb stadium. In the end, Knight stops Cronus at the last moment before

 

he was going to set off the bomb.

blog post

                                                                The Premise

          The novel Shoot-Out by Mike Lupica is about Jake who moved from the town Greenville to Belmont. He like the town and the school he went to but there was something there that Greenville had and Belmont didn't. A soccer team that are state champions. The Belmont soccer team is about the worst in their league. There is another guy on the team, Kevin Crosby, that nobody really knows about. Only that his mom died recently and Kevin acted like he didn't want to be on the soccer team. Jake keeps trying to be his friend and get him to be more enthusiastic in soccer. Jake finds out that Kevin has one of the best leg on the team, maybe even better than Jake.

                                                               

                                                                Passage

        "Coach Lord said, "Okay, Jake. Go win us the game." "No", Jake said. "Very funny", Coach Lord said. "I'm always for lightening the mood. Now get out there." Jake smiled at him, as if he and Coach were the only ones in on the joke. Except it was no joke. "Were winning the game, Coach. You got that part right", Jake said. "But I'm not taking the last kick." He turned to Kevin Crosby. "You are", Jake said (Lupica 160). That passage was when Jake's team was playing his old team, Greenville, and they were having a shoot-out because they ended the game in a tie. Jake gave the last kick that would win them the game to Kevin because he knew he was good enough to win it for them. But, also it was because Jake wanted Kevin to finally act and feel part of their team and win it for them. In the end, Belmont beats Greenville. 

Torn Thread

 

The Premise

 

The book I read was called Torn Thread by Anne Isaacs. It is a nonfiction book about two

sisters, Eva and Rachel. The story takes place in 1943 in Bedzin and then in the Nazi work camp of

Parschnitz. In the beginning, Eva, her older sister, Rachel, and their father moved into an attic in the Jewish ghetto after being forced to leave their home. As the story continues, Rachel is taken by Nazi soldiers. Soon after, Eva and her father find out that Rachel was sent to Parschnitz in Czechoslovakia. Her father arranged Eva to join Rachel at the camp.

 

Significant Passage

 

         "All across the room girls moaned, coughed, muttered, or cried in their sleep. Next to her Rachel wheezed while she slept, then suddenly broke into a cough that sounded as if it would tear her lungs from her chest. It didn't last long, and afterward Rachel began to breath more easily, but even so Eva remained restless.

         Last week Rachel fainted at work; without warning, in the middle of the day. Instead of Rachel, another girl had come to collect the bobbins that afternoon and had stopped by Eva's machine to tell her. Rachel was all right, the girl had said; they had revived her quickly by throwing water on her from the washing troughs." (Isaccs 120)

         That passage showed that many people in the camp were sick, including Rachel. Also, if you were not strong enough or were sick, you still had to do your work. Most times in the book, Eva acts like the older sister to Rachel even though she isn't because Eva does more work to get food and clothing for herself and for Rachel. Eva also helps Rachel when she is sick but Rachel would also get sick a lot before they were in the camp.   

 



 



lockdown

 

 



Premise

 

     The book I read is called Lockdown from the series Escape From Furnace by Alexander Gordon Smith. It is a fiction book about a character named Alex Sawyer who's 14. In the beginning, Alex is set up for a crime he didn't commit, which was killing his best friend while they were robbing a house. When Alex got sentenced to life at Furnace Penitentiary, he found out that some of the kids that were there also got set up for crimes. Others actually did commit the crimes. Alex then got a cell mate, Carl Donovan. Donovan told him that Furnace isn't like other prisons. He explained to Alex that on some nights, the guards from Furnace take prisoners away from there cell and don't come back. Alex knew he wouldn't last long in the prison so him and two others, Donovan and a kid named Zee, planned an escape. As the story continues, they figure out a plan that might work but the night before their escape the guards came and took Donovan. Alex promised him that he would come back for him. When Alex and Zee attempted their escape, it would've worked until the guards sent dogs after them and to find them., To find out all of what happens then you'll have to read the book and the rest of the series.

 

Significant Passage

 

     "Look," I said, taking Donovan's shoulders. "They only take one cellmate at a time, right?"

     "Right."

     "Then one of us is left. We go ahead with this, okay? One of us makes the break. Once I'm free, I'll go straight to the cops. Doesn't matter if they throw me back in here, just as long as they investigate. If I'm quick, I might be able to save you. If you hurry, you might get back in time to save me."

     Donovan nodded as the lights rebooted, then he flung his arms around me, squeezing me so hard I gasped for breath.

     "Thanks," he said, his eyes filling.

     "For what?"

     "Thanks for giving me hope."

     "It's not over yet," I said. I could hear footsteps crashing down the platform, the howl of mutant dogs.

     "I know," he replied. Then they were there. A command from the blacksuit sent the cell door crashing open and in a blink of an eye the guard was inside, a massive hand wrapped around Donovan's throat, pulling the boy out as if he weighed nothing, holding him above the ground. I threw myself forward but the giant used his other hand to swipe me away. I felt like I'd been hit by a car, sliding across the floor and smashing into the bunks.

     By the time I'd got to my feet again, the cell door was rattling shut.

     "Donovan!" I shouted. The gas mask was sliding a needle from his belt, a syringe full of blackness and death, a cloud that swirled like a galaxy, full of flickers of yellow light. "No!"

     But it was too late. The wheezer stabbed the needle into Donovan's neck and the boy went limp and silent.

     "You cant do this!" I shouted. "Donovan, I'll come for you. I'll come for you!" (259-260 Smith)

    

     That passage is significant because that was the night that Donovan got taken. Also, more things happen in the series that involve Donovan, when he got taken, and when or if Alex did go to find Donovan and save him. After Donovan got taken, Alex realized how much of a friend Donovan was and how much help he was so that pushed Alex to escape and save him.   

Blaze

 



The Premise

 

      The novel Blaze by Richard Bachman and foreword by Stephen King takes place in Boston so far. Clay Blaisdell, known as Blaze, is the main character of the book and George Rackley, Blazes boss, is somewhat of a main character even though he dies in the beginning of the book. Before George died, Blaze and him were planning ton kidnap a baby from a rich family, the Gerard's, so they can get ransom money. Even though George id dead, Blaze still hears him give orders for him what to do and that is the only reason Blaze could go with their plan successfully.

 

What I Just Read

 

     The last chapter I read was about Blaze kidnapping the baby from the Gerard's house. Before the kidnapping, Blaze was told by George he needed all the things a baby needed so Blaze went and got them. Then, to get in the Gerard's gate, which is guarded by people sense they are a rich family, he used a parking attendant card to get in. Blaze go the card from George who worked for the Gerard's when he was alive. After Blaze got in, all he did was use a ladder to get into a window. He ended up in Mr. and Mrs. Gerard's bedroom where they were sleeping, but they did not wake up. Then, when he got the baby, he went through a different window to get out of the house. Blaze had made it out and past the gate without being caught except he had to knock out a women who had caught him leaving through the window but that was all.



 

Significant Passage

 

     "It would have to be fast: open the window, climb through, close the window again. Otherwise the inrush of cold January air would wake them for sure. But if the sliding window really squalled against the frame, that would wake them up, too.

     "Go on"' George said from the base of the ladder. "Take your best shot."

     Blaze wriggled his fingers into the crack between the bottom of the window and the jamb, then lifted. The window lifted without a sound. He swung a leg inside, followed it with his body, and thumped into place. He froze in a crouch, afraid to turn and look at the bed, ears attuned to catch the slightest sound.

     Nothing (Bachman 90)."

     That passage was about Blaze sneaking into the Gerard's bedroom window. It shows how George still talks to Blaze and tells him what to do in his head. Also, it shows how careful Blaze wants to be so he does not get caught. Blaze gets kind of scared when he was about to open and go through the window, but then George told him to just go.





Pet Sematary

    

The Premise

 

     The book I read was called Pet Sematary by Stephen King. It is a fiction book about a character Louis Creed. The story takes place in Ludlow, Maine. In the beginning, we learn that Louis, his wife Rachel, and their two kids, Eileen (8) and Gage (2) just moved to a new house. As the story continues, there is a Pet Cemetery in the woods which is in the Creed's backyard. The Pet Cemetery was made by kids so that other kids could bury their pets there when they died. The title of the book misspells cemetery because at the entrance to the cemetery there is a sign made by the kids that says "Pet Sematary". The Creed family figure out about the cemetery because Jud brings them their. Jud and Norma Crandall are an old couple who are the Creeds only neighbors just across the road. Jud also said to Louis that they need to stay safe by the road because big trucks speed by often. That is why there are many pets buried at the Pet Sematary. Later, Rachel, Eileen, and Gage go out of town for a few days to visit Rachel's mom and dad. While they are gone, Jud called Louis, who stayed home, and told him that there was a dead cat on his lawn by the road. The Creeds did have a cat, Church, that was Eileen's. It was Church when he went to go look. Jud knew Eileen would be very upset so he was going to go bury the cat with Louis. When they got to the Pet Sematary, Jud said they weren't burying Church there so Jud led him farther out into the woods. When they got to this area with a hard stony ground, Jud told Louis to bury Church there. The next morning Louis woke up finding Church, alive. Jud told Louis about if you bury the dead at that place, they will come back, but not the same they were when they were alive. Finally, something unexpected happens to the Creed and Crandall families. 

 

Spoiler Alert

 

     Louis was wondering if anyone had ever buried a person at the place where he had buried Church. Jud told him once someone did bury a person there but when the person came back alive, they were different. People believed he had killed many other people. Later, Jud's wife dies but he never thought of bringing her back to life because she would not be the same. A few months later, the Creed family and Jud were playing tag in a field. Gage had been running the wrong way, towards the road. Jud, Louis, and Rachel had started screaming and sprinting to Gage. They could see a truck speeding down the road, towards Gage. Gage was almost to the road and Louis was close behind. Louis leaped for Gage, only scraping his hands on Gage's jacket. It was too late anyway. Gage ran into the road just as the truck came. Gage got hit and had died. Later on, Louis sent his wife and daughter to her parents house. Louis planned on bringing Gage back to life and his planned worked  but in a horrible way. Jud had figured out what Louis was going to done and told Rachel to come back as soon as possible. She was on her way back to figure out was going on. After Louis buried Gage, he went home and slept. While he slept, Gage came back to life and made his way to Jud's house. Gage killed Jud when he was off guard and then Rachel came into Jud's house. Gage then killed her too by going over to hug her because she was so happy to see him. Louis went over to Jud's knowing what Gage possibly did because there were small footprints in the Creed's house and his doctor scalpel was gone. He went inside the house knowing he was going to kill Gage. Louis had injected three shots of morphine into Gage. Louis then saw his wife dead so he was going to bury his wife to bring her back. Before he left, he set the house on fire.

 

 Criticism

 

     What I did not like about the book was the beginning. The beginning was boring and nothing important or exciting happened. Then at the end it was very exciting and everything happened all at once. The author could have spread things out more.