The world’s GREATEST ELEPANT

By: Ralph Helfer
Philomel books
New York
2006
Bram was born in Germany. An elephant named Modoc was born at the same time. Bram’s father owned Modoc. Bram and Modoc became friends. Modoc was the biggest ELEPHANT in the circus. He wants Modoc but not Bram. Bram’s dad dies. Mr. North is taking the circus to Neo York. Bram hides with Modoc on the ship and a storm comes. Water comes in the ship. Bram tried to help Modoc. He couldn’t break the chain. The ship sank. The ocean pulled Bram and Mosey out of a hole in the ship. The chain broke. Modoc is a floating island for the people. A tugboat comes for the people. It is too small for Modoc and Bram started to drown but a big ship comes. Bram wakes up at a Maharajah home and he takes Bram and Modoc. The Maharajah is a friend and gives Bram a ring. Everyone would know the king’s ring. They leave and live at a teak log camp. Soldiers came. Modoc must carry food for the soldiers and he gets shot. Mr. North comes. Modoc wants go to on the ship with Bram. They both go to New York with Mr. North circus. There is a fire and Modoc is burned. Mr. North’s sells Modoc and he fires Bram. Bram looks for Modoc for ten yers. Bram finally finds Modoc at an elephant trainer’s ranch. They are together again.

My Thoughts

Yes I like this book because lots of thing happened to them – (ship sinks. Fire) .


I like this book but I don’t like Mr. North.


I recommend every body to read this book because I enjoyed the story

Luke Book Review: Hunger Games

Hunger Games

Author: Suzanne Collins

Publisher: Scholastic Press

Place & year of Publication: New York, 2008

Number of Pages: 374

Where you found the Book: My Sister

Story Review

The reason that this book is called the Hunger Games is because in the book there is a contest to the death and the contest is called “The Hunger Games” The main Characters in this book are Katniss Everdeen and Peeta Mellark. This book is set in District 12 And the Capital. This book is set in the future with elements of the past. The main problem in this book is that Katniss Everdeen and Peeta Mellark are chosen to go to the Hunger Games, and only one person can win in the Hunger Games. This book starts out in District 12, where Katniss lives. Life there is horrible for everyone, and annually, they choose two people form each of the 12 districts to go to the Hunger Games. The two people form district 12 for the 74^th annual Hunger Games, are Peeta and Katniss. They go to the Capitol and stay there for a while, and eventually, the Games start. The theme in “The Hunger Games” is who has the power. In this book, everyone is controlled by the Capitol. That’s why the Capitol made the Hunger Games. To show that they can do anything to anyone, even take their children away and put them in a battle to the death.

Christian Perspective

The problem with this book is that all it’s about is killing. Because of that, it is a very violent book. This book would not be appropriate for younger readers, because of the gruesome, descriptive violence. There are a lot of times where Katniss could have prayed to God and asked him what to do. Also, that is sort of what life would be like without God, in the future.

My Thoughts

The reason that I chose this book is because almost 20 people recommended it to me. They were all telling me to read it, so I did. It is a great book! I would recommend it to anyone who is allowed to read it. One of the things that I liked about it is how intense it is. It is very gripping and entertaining. It’s so dramatic and violent. I would recommend it to anyone who is allowed to read it. It is just amazing.

The series of unfortunate events *Austere Academy*

Author: Lemony Snicket

Publisher: Scholastic

Place & year of Publication: New York 2001

Number of pages: 221

Where you found the book: Public Library

The characters of this story are Violet, Klaus, Sunny, Count Olaf, Mr. Poe, Count Olaf’s associates, Vice Principle Nero, Mrs. Bass, Mr. Remora, Carmelita, and Duncan & Isadora Quagmire.

They called this book Austere Academy because the Baudelaire’s went to the Academy, and it is called Series of Unfortunate Events because it is a series of books about the Baudelaire’s and a lot of unfortunate events happen to them.

This books many Themes are courage, loyalty, overcoming challenges, family relationships, and friendship.

Story Review

The Baudelaire’s were going to a school called Austere academy, there motto is “Memento Mori” which means “ remember you will die.” The Baudelaire’s went to the big school with grave shaped buildings. They went to the office of Vice Principle Nero, who was trying to paly violin, and he thought he was a genius. He told the three Baudelaire’s the rules of the school.

#1 If you are in the administrative building without permission you aren’t allowed to use silverware at any of your meals

#2 If you’re late for class you get your hands tied behind your back at mealtime

#3 If you don’t show up to his 6 hour violin recital, you have to buy Vice Principle Nero, you have to buy him a bag of candy and watch him eat it

Violet had to study with Mr. Remora in Room I. Klaus had to study with Mrs. Bass in Room II. Sunny had to be Vice Principle Nero’s secretary, she will have to answer phone calls, and take care of the paperwork, and would mean she would have to work in the administrative building so her silverware would always be taken away. They left to see were they were living. They had to live in a shack entirely mad of tin. They get to sleep on bale of hay. They were crabs on the ground & fungus on the roof, with green walls with pink hearts on them. They left for lunch after they saw their shack. At lunchtime Carmelita made fun of the orphans by chanting “Cake Sniffing Orphans in the Orphan Shack.” Everyone joined in and chanted with her “Cake Sniffing Orphans in the Orphan Shack.” Duncan Quagmire stopped them and talked with them with his sister Isadora Quagmire, they were twins. Isadora wanted to be a poet, and Duncan wanted to be journalist. Carmelita told the Baudelaire’s to meet the coach who was Count Olaf at the field in front of the school. He told them to paint a luminous circle, and to do some laps around the circle. The exercise is called S.O.R.E (Special Orphan Running Exercise.) The Quagmires were spying on them from the auditorium were Nero’s 6 hour violin concert was. The Baudelaire’s had to miss the concert and ended up missing 8 more because of doing S.O.R.E. So they each owed him 9 bags of candy witch would be 28 bags of candy. They went to Nero’s office and he told them they were failing every test and they would have to get 100% on their exam (which they would have the next day) or they would be given to Count Olaf. They had to do S.O.R.E that night so they wouldn’t be able to study and they didn’t know anything. The Quagmires said they would do S.O.R.E for them dressed up to look like them, so know the Baudelaire’s can study all night. They got 100% but Count Olaf found out what they did so Nero could expel them. Mr. Poe came and asked Count Olaf to take of his shoes because if he had a tattoo of an eye that means he is Count Olaf not a coach. He ran away to a car waiting for him with three of his associates and the Quagmires who had a fortune just as good as the Baudelaire’s. The Baudelaire’s were crying as their friends were taken away with nothing but they’re Journals left behind.

Christian perspective

This book could have had more Christ like attitude. Like the part were Olaf tries to steals the fortune, which is not Christ like. Or the part were he makes them do S.O.R.E, which is also not Christ like. They could always think of a better name for the book too. I kind of think Series of Unfortunate Events sounds depressing.

My perspective

This book is not the best book to read if you don’t like violence unfortunate events or any bad things happening to children. If you don’t mind any of those and you like mystery books you should read this book. That’s why I read the book and enjoy it too. I chose this book because this is the 8^th book of these series and I’m not stopping now.

Joel’s Book Review

Title: A Boy At War

Author: Harry Mazer

Publisher: Scholastic

Place of publication: U.S.A in New York

Year of publication: September 2001

Number of pages: 104

Where did you find the book: C.H.S Library

Story Review:

I think this book is called A boy at war because even though he wasn’t a real soldier this war really affected him because this attack killed his father and injured his friend. This book mostly takes place in Honolulu at Pearl Harbour in December of 1941 the main characters are Adam, Davi, Martin, Adams father and mother, and Adams sister Bea. The main event this book was about was when the Japanese bombed Pearl Harbour on Sunday, December 7, 1941. Just hours before the bombing Adam, Davi and Martin planed to go fishing so they went down to the harbour and the found an abandoned boat. Martin and Davi thought it was the pig god providing for them so they got into the boat and paddled away. When they started fishing they heard planes, at first they thought they were American planes until they saw the Japanese flag on the bottom of the wings. Because Davi and Martin were Japanese they started cheering so Adam tried to kill them but then Martin fought back. While they fighting the wash off the airplane flipped the boat and then when Adam was on the shore he saw Martin and Davi floating in the water and he dragged them ashore. After they where ashore Adam noticed Martin had a big chunk of wood right through his chest but they were both alive. So Adam carried Martin onto the dock and set him down and just realized he had been shot and the bullet went straight through his hand. Then a car came and picked Martin up it was a ambulance and the car brought him to the hospital and he lived but the piece of wood was an inch from his heart. While Martin was in the hospital a marine came up to Adam and thought he was in the navy so he gave him a gun and the group of sailors came to and they were guarding a road. After awhile Adam snuck off and went home were his family was holding shovels to defend themselves. Every one said there was no sign of his father because his father was in the navy and after a couple days they got a letter saying their father was missing and later they realized that he had died. I think the theme of this book was that even though you are not a soldier you can still be greatly involved in the war.

Christian Perspective

I do not think this book was written from a Christian perspective but I do think the characters in the book at times showed Christ like qualities like when the Japanese were attacking he didn’t run away and leave his friends to die even though he could have died. He also ran a long way carrying his friend to save his life. But the boys in this book I don’t think were Christians because Adam tried to kill the other boys.

My Thoughts

I chose this book because I read the one after it (Heroes don’t run) and I also like reading books about history and the world wars. I really enjoyed reading this book even though I usually dislike reading books. This book I thought was very interesting and the way he wrote the book you can just picture what is happening in the story. I thought the author really did a good job describing what is happening and just using really good detail.

Long Shot

Author: Eric Zweig
Publisher: James Lorimer Company Ltd
It was published in Toronto
I found the book in the CHS library
Page number: 112


Story review: This story is about a group of young boys named Frank, Konnie, Wally, Bobby, Slim, Huck, Chris and Mike. They were also Icelandic and yet moved to Winnipeg the boys childhood did not go well. They were called Goolies so the whole Icelandic neighborhood was Goolies. But the people the people of Winnipeg did not know that soon enough the boys would
become Canadian hockey stars and represent Canada in the Olympics. It all started when Frank’s dad built a hockey rink in his back yard soon almost all of the Icelandic people in Winnipeg were there. Soon enough the Winnipeg falcons started up most of the boys were young but they had some older brothers in the team. About half way into the story the falcons facing other teams for the Allan cup soon enough the team made it to the Olympics and won or you have to read to find out.


Christian Perspective
As a Christian I think that this book is very good it shows Christ like behavior. Also I loved the book because no one in the book had bad behavior even when they were in war they still show
good characters. Some of the characters that they did in this book might help me in my life to become a better Christian.

My thoughts
I recommend this book to people who don’t read a lot. And also people who love hockey this book is easy to read and has a very good story line. I love how Frank the captain of the Falcons team always persevere and push’s trough all the hard times.

Iwan's book report

Title:Percy Jackson and the Olympians:The lightning thief

Author:Rick Roirdan

Publisher:Disney Hyperion

Place& year of publication: 2005 United States

Numberof pages: 398

Where youfound the book: School Library

Summery

Percy Jackson is a 6^thgrader in Yancy Acadamy for troubled children. He was kicked out of school and told he is actually the son of a sea godPoseidon. His father, Poseidon is accused of stealing Zeus’s lightning bolt. All these events lead to Percy’s quest. He set out on his quest with his two friends Annabeth (daughter of Athena)and Grover (a Styr).

His quest was toretrieve the lightning bolt from Hades. Along the way he meets unpleasantmonsters, like Medusa he also learn more about himself and who he really is. He has a series of dreams about a monster in the Abyss (the deepest hole inthe earth).These dreams help predict what the future will bring.

When he reaches Hadesit appears that he didn’t steal the bolt but that someone had stolenhis helm of darkness too.If he wasn’t the thief then who was ? Who would wanta war between the gods, was it maybe the monster Percy had dreamt about thatwould rise out of the abyss or maybe a close friend, no one would know until thebook ends.

Christian perspective

This book was notwritten from a Christian perspective but the characters in the book hadChristian qualities like perseverance, hope, and courage, they cared and lookedout for each other through hard times. Tough the book was nothing nearChristian some characters dealt wisely with their rage and conflict for examplePercy felt like he could kill his stepfather Gabe but he dealt with it wisely bynot showing how mad he was and he respected his stepfather by doing that eventough he was wrong.

My thoughts

I really liked thisbook and would recommend it to any one that likes action ,adventure and fantasyall in one book I learned a lot about Greek mythology.

Heroes Don't Run

Title: Heroes Don't Run
Author: Harry Mazer
Publisher: First scholastic printing
Place and year of publication: New York 2005
Number of pages: 113
Where I found the book: school library

Book Summary

At the age of seventeen Adam is ready to be in the armed forces. He feels that he cannot wait until he is eighteen to be in the armed forces and that he has to do his best to get into the fight against the Japanese as soon as possible. Since his mother will not sign the paperwork needed to be in the armed forces, Adam travels across the country to New York to see his grandfather. Adam is sure that his grandfather, once a soldier himself, will sign the papers that will let Adam do what he thinks he must. Eventually Adam's grandfather agrees and soon Adam is in the marines. The main theme of this book is showing off, Adam joins the marines because he cannot wait another year and wants to show off to his friends, he successfully goes through the training in boot camp like it was nothing, and goes to Okinawa, he writes letters to his friends showing off that he is actually joined the army and that he is actually serving his country.

After Adam was done his training at the boot camp he and his friends were transferred to camp Lejeune in North Carolina and they all receive their first guns. The Sergents in this story are very rude, one time Sergent Bessie ordered the soldiers to clean the footlockers by scrubbing them down, cleaning their clothes, and do physical activities. The insane activities and drills that they make the troops do proves that these are real heroes. After Adam and his friends leave Camp Lejeune they appear more tougher. The training that they made then do there really made them feel grown and mature.

The reason that Adam's mom did not agree to Adam being the armed forces is that because she has lost everyone because of war eventually she lost Adams father. Adam’s father died when the battleship Arizona sank during the bombing of Pearl Harbor. Adam witnessed the sinking. In fact, he and two of his buddies were actually out in the harbor near the Arizona when it exploded and sank. Even though that Adam he has been taught a great deal about battle and fighting, when Adam finds himself on the Japanese island of Okinawa, the truth of what war is really like is a shock. There is so much chaos, and death is every where around him. As one of fellow soldiers die in droves, Adam does his best to do his job and to stay alive for he has promised his mother that he will return to her.

My thoughts

I think the author did a really good job describing the book especially the battle scenes, by using details and words like blood and pale faces of the dead people. I couldn't wait another day to read the book. I could really imagine the war scenes. I would recommend this book to people who like war and action and to people who want to know more about World War 2. Personally I loved this book I think this is the best book I ever read in my whole life time.

Christian perspective

Adam was not raised from a christian home, but the characteristic he showed were very like Christ. but it also showed people are not perfect. Adam was fight for his country and her wanted revenge on the Japaneses because they killed his father but the worse part about this is that he witnessed the killing of his dad and that haunted him. The courage he had was unbelievable he was not afraid to give his life for his friends. The promise he made to his mom that he will return alive that is what drove him to stay alive, the memory of the promise he made. This book really taught me to keep the promises I make.