Luke's Book review

Luke’s Book Review

Title: Mark Twain

Author: Clinton Cox

Publisher: Apple (Scholastic)

 Place and year of publication: New York, July 1999

Number of pages: 240

Where you found the book: School library

Story review

The reason this book is called “Mark Twain” is because it is all about Mark twain. This book is set in many places, including Hannibal, Missouri, Florida, Missouri, St. Louis, Philadelphia, New York, among other places. The main characters in this book are Mark Twain and his wife, Olivia Langdon. This book has no problem, because it is a biography with no plot or storyline, just facts. Some important things that happen in this book are that Samuel Clemens (Mark Twain’s original name) moves, He moves again, He becomes a riverboat pilot He moves again, He marries Olivia, He has his first daughter, second, third, first dies, fourth born, He writes books, He dies. The theme in this book is to fight (or write) for what you believe in.

Christian Perspective

This book is appropriate for about ages 12+.  In this book, it talks a bit anti-God.  At one point, Mark Twain says “Anyone who is in his right mind and is not purposely blinding himself cannot believe in God.” There also are a few swears in this book, and it talks about Twain laying awake at night thinking of new and creative ways to kill his teacher (He never puts any into effect).

My Thoughts

The reason that I chose this book is because my teacher wanted me to pick a biography and this is the first one I saw. I didn’t like this book very much, because it was boring, not funny or exciting, and it was a biography. I don’t generally like biographies, and this was no exception. I would recommend this to anyone why is a fan of Tom sawyer, and people who like biographies. I would do this because this is a biography, and it is about the writer of Tom Sawyer.

Title: On the course with Tiger Woods

Author: Matt Christopher

Publisher: Little, Brown and Company

Place& year of publication: the book didn't mention anything

Where I found it: CHS library

Number of pages: 129pg.

Summary

As any other child, Tiger's parents mean the world to him. His dads name is Earl Wood and his mothers name is Kultida Woods. The main characters of this book is Tiger Woods and his parents. The theme is of this book is adventurous because Tiger Woods starts from being an unknown kid and becomes one of the biggest sport stars today. the title of this book is called on the course with Tiger Woods which means doing deeper into Tiger Woods golf life.





Most who played golf were white people or really rich people. So it was hard for Tiger Wood to play golf because people would always make raciest comments because he was black. But at the end of each game no one said anything about his skin because they would be amazed at his golf skills. As Tiger was still in elementary he was getting a lot of college offers. But he ended going pro before going to college.

Tiger Woods was always too good to be true. From the moment his father first put a club in his hands, before he even took his first steps. He made his first public appearance at the age of 2, on the Mike Douglas Show, where he dazzled the audience with a swing that left people gasping. As an amateur golfer, he put together a record so dominating that it was unbelievable, winning six national titles in succession, three Junior Amateurs, followed by three Amateurs. When he turned pro, he not only racked up victories in regular PGA Tour events but also won major championships by breaking records.

Christian perspective

This book was not written in a christian perspective but it had a lot of Christ like actions. For instance when people would always make raciest comments, Tiger Woods wouldn't respond in a aggressive way he would go home and talk to his parents about it. The book said only one thing about Tigers religion and it mentioned that he was a Buddhist. Even though Tiger Woods was not christian he was always kind and he acted like a christian.

My thoughts

This is definitely one of the best biographies I've ever read. Despite not being a fan of golf, I still found this book very interesting. From him starting to play golf at a young age and still be really good, It shows you why Tiger Woods is such a great golfer. Who doesn't want to know the secret of being a great athlete? It seems like Tiger Woods is such a great golfer because he started playing golf at a very young age.

Shaquille O'Neal

Author: Michael Boughn

Publisher: Warwick Publishing Inc.

Place and year of Publication: Toronto, Ontario 1999

Number of Pages: 91       
Where you found the book: CHS library

Theme: Sports, Accomplishments, Athletes

This book is called Shaquille O’Neal because this book is about a guy named Shaquille O’Neal.

The main character is Shaquille Rashaun O’Neal.

Story

   Shaq was born on March 6,1972 at Newark, New Jersey. His father was a solider, Shaq’s father had to move around a lot to lots of different military bases and took his wife and son (Shaq) with him. When Shaq was in Grade 6 they left to a military base in Germany. IN the base he was teased for his size and height, and he wasn’t doing that well in school, which didn’t help. He was 6’5’’ and 250 pounds at the time.  

   

   While they were at Fulda (a city in Germany) they arranged a basketball clinic for kids. A coach from Louisiana State University runs the clinic, Dale Brown. By 13 years old, Shaq was already 6’8’’ tall. Coach Dale Brown told Shaq’s dad he had potential as a basketball player. 

   

   In 1987 Shaq’s family returned to the U.S. to stay. Stationed at Fort Sam Houston in San Antonio, Texas, Shaq’s traveling days were over. Shaq was 13 years at 6’9’’ and was in high school in Texas. He played high school basketball and with Shaq lost the only game for his freshman year team. There record was 32-1. By November 1988 Shaq had already signed a letter stating his agreement to go to LSU. At his senior year, Shaq is now 7 feet and 270 pounds. On his senior year his teams record was 36-0 with Shaquille O’Neal. Shaq was named Most Valuable Player (MVP). Shaq Graduated from high school in June 1989. 

   

   ON April 3,1991, right after the end of the NCAA tournament, Shaq announced he was leaving LUS to make himself evaluable for NBA draft. Shaq signed a 7-year contract with Orlando Magic for $39.9 million. Shaq became the first player in NBA history to be named player of the Week in the first week in the league, averaging 25.8 ppg, 16.4 rpg and 3.40 bpg for the week ending 11/15/92. He was named 1993 NBA rookie of the year, and to the NBA All-Rookie first team, after averaging 23.4 ppg, 13.9 rpg and 3.53 bpg. He led the NBA in scoring (29.3ppg) in 1994-95 and in field goal percentage (.599) in 1993-94. Shaq was selected in 1996 as one of the 50 Greatest Players in NBA history. Then Shaq signed a 7-year contract worth $121 million with the L.A Lakers. He has appeared in the 45 career playoff games, and in the NBA All-Star Game in each of his first four seasons (1993-96). Shaq was an actor and rapper. He made lots of movies like Blue Chips, Kazaam, Steel, and made lots of albums too. Shaq was very talented in many ways.

   

  

   

Christian Perspective 

   This book was kind off based on a Christian perspective and showed some Christ like qualities for example, Shaq at one point of his life was extremely gentile even though people made fun of him for his height and weight. Shaq’s not even Christian, ends up he’s Muslim. The names of his children are all Islamic names.

   

My Thoughts

I enjoyed reading this book but I hate reading about all the games he played. I think this book has described every game Shaq has played. I recommend this book to people who enjoy sports, athletes, and tall people.

Tortured for Christ

Tortured for Christ

Author: Richard Wurmbrand

Publisher: The Voice of the Martyrs, Inc.

Place and year of publication: Bartlesville, OK 1976

Number of pages: 157

Where I found the book: My house

Story Review

This story is about a man named Richard Wurmbrand. It took place in Romania and the story began in the year 1944. Richard had grown up as an orphan with a family in Romania. His life was bitter and plain with no religion. He was an atheist and simply refused to believe in Christ, but still something drew him to churches and their services on Sundays. He had a great interest in religion and wanted to know more. He spoke to a pastor and the pastor gave him a bible. Richard read it and accepted Christ into his heart. His burning passion for Christ grew and he became a pastor of his own church, but soon after, the communists came into Romania and set up a political system known as Marxism (a form of communism), which didn’t allow for much religious or political freedom. Communists took over Romania and replaced Christian pastors with spies because they didn’t want anyone believing in Christ. Richard simply could not become a spy. He founded a long line of churches known as the underground church. They did everything to convert people to Christianity, but their actions had a consequence. Torture, which explains the title “Tortured for Christ”. If they were caught in these acts, they were taken to jail and beaten, but they did not care. Their love of God had grown so strong that it did not matter.

Christian Perspective

This book was definitely Christian, as the title indicates. Christ was applied to all aspects of their life even in the worst times they prayed and never doubted God. Their strength came from God and they were internally strong even when they were physically weak. In jail or on the streets they had no fear. This was admirable and the most I can say for this is that they never feared, were always strong, and had hope.

My thoughts

I chose this book because I had to do a biography, and I really wanted to read something Christian. I thought this book was amazing! I have to say that Richard gave me hope for spreading Christ. I have no need to fear because this is an obvious representation that God is always with you. This man was admirable and I love the way his problems were handled. I have to say that there was nothing that I disliked about the book. I would recommend this to anyone who wants to read a really interesting story about

Destiny

 

C.S Lewis The storyteller

Author: Derick Bingham

Publisher: Omnia Glasgow

Place and year of publication: Christian Focus Publications Ltd

Number of pages: 171

Where I found the book: the school library

Story review

The title is the storyteller because C.S Lewis because he wrote many books like the Narnia series. It takes place in many places it takes place in England and Germany. The main characters are C.S Lewis (aka Jack) and his brother warren. There isn't really a problem well I guess he is in the army and he has been moved around alot cause of his school. There are many themes in this book but the main theme is about his life. This book is a great book.

Christian perspective

C.S Lewis was a Christian when he was younger but when he grew up he started thinking that there was no God but then when he got a letter from his brother he started believing in God again. I think that he should have had
God in his life all the time. In this book there is war and all that but he came back alive there is also a time period when he sends his dad a whole bunch of letters to come ans see him but his dad never came. He could have prayed that his dad would come or that he would be safe during the war.

Your thoughts

I chose this book because I had to do a biography although I don't like biographies my opinion of this book is that it is a good book. I liked this book because I like C.S Lewis's books that he writes like the NARNIA series he put something really cool in this book I will put it at the end of my book report. I would recommend this book to people that like biographies cause they might like biographies



THE TUNNEL KING

Title of Book: The Tunnel King

Author of Book: Barbara Hehner

Publisher of book: HarperTrophyCanada

Place of Publication: United States of America

Year of Publication: 2004

Number of pages: 147

Where I found the book: CHS library

Story review

This book is titled the Tunnel King because this book is about a man named Wally Floody who was captured by Germans during world war two when his planed got hit and he had to bail out. The Germans took him to a POW (prisoner of war) camp where he and some other guys planed to escape and his role was the boss of all tunneling operations they nick named him the Tunnel King. This book took place mostly in Germany some of his training to be a pilot was in Brandon MB and his home town was Toronto MB. Wally was captured on his first mission in 1941 when a German fighter plane shot his plane down and he had to bail out. Wally was born in1918 and escaped imprisonment in 1945. The only main character in this book was Wally there were some other characters but they were not main. The problem in this book was Wally was captured and could not escape despite his best efforts all his tunnels were ether discovered or collapsed. The only reason Wally escaped was because Russian forces captured the POW camp he was in so he didn’t really escape he was just set free by Russians. I think this book was about never giving up even if it’s hard because the tunnel collapsed on Wally more than once but he kept trying even though in the end his plan never did come through.

Christian Perspective

This book  was not based on a Christian perspective but it showed some of Christ like qualities for instance Wally did not get all upset  when things didn’t go his way instead he kept trying and the Germans even though they were the enemy the Germans still showed respect to them. The prisoners also showed respect to the Germans they did not try to kill them or say words to them that were negative. Even though this book was not based on a Christian perspective it still showed Christ like qualities.

My thoughts

Over all I liked this book but some parts like the beginning of the book  were it  was telling about his normal life and all that  kind of stuff was a little on the boring side of things but closer to the middle and the end of the book it got more eventful. I would recommend this book to anyone who likes books that are true and is based on wars and history. 

Paris' Book Review

Harry Houdini

Author: Vicki Cobb

Publisher: Dorling Kindersley 

Place and year of publication: Canada August 1 2005

Number of pages: 128

Where I found the book; School library 

Summery 

Harry Houdini's real name was Ehrich Weiss. He was born on March 24th 1874. He came from a very poor family. When he was 12 years old, he preformed in a "dime museum." A dime museum is a place were you could go and pay very little to watch people preform. When he was just starting out, he did simple coin tricks. He met a girl named Bess. Erich and Bess preformed together. Ehrich's hero was Robert Houdin. Robert was a very famous french magician. One of Ehrich's  friends sugested that Ehrich name himself after Robert Houdin. Harry is the English translation of the name Ehrich and Houdini means "Like Houdin" in french.

After preforming in dime museums for a long time, a European agent came and asked Houdini to preform in Europe with him. When he was on his way to Europe, he studied alot of Robert Houdin's tricks. He became very skilled in lock picking. He trained himself to be flexible so he could pick locks on his hands with his toes. He trained himself to hold his breath underwater for long periods of time so he could do water escapes. One of his greatest escapes was from England's strongest prison. He was searched and he had no picks on him. Then he was put in a cell with nothing in it. A little while later, Houdini came out of the jail cell. This escape gained him lots of publicity. He became very famous in Europe and England. Soon, he went to America to preform there. he preformed many great tricks. He became very rich and he sent most of his money home to his mother. He later became the president of the SAM (Society of American Magicians).

Harry Houdini preformed many dangerous tricks. These included: Escaping from a sealed milk can filled with water, Being buried alive, escaping from straightjackets underwater, and many more. He also made many movies, but he stopped that because his acting skills were poor. He became the first man to fly a plane in Australia.

On October 31 1926, Houdini died of a ruptured appendix. A few days before, a student asked him if his stomach was hard enough to withstand any punch. Houdini said it was. Before Houdini was ready, the student punched him right were his appendix was. Houdini refused to get medical attention. 

The book is called Harry Houdini because it is all about Harry Houdini. 

Christian Perspective

Houdini was born in a Christian home, but he never really showed that he believed in God. I dont think this book was written in a Christian perspective. 

Houdini never thanked God for giving him the ability to preform in Europe and America. He could have thanked God  for letting him preform and for giving him the skills to pick locks. He could have prayed that all his performances would go well. He could have also prayed that his appendicitis would get better.

My Thoughts 

I picked this book because I had to do a Biography, and this one seamed the most interesting. I dont really like biographys, but this one was kind of interesting. I liked learning about all the tricks Houdini did. I found it interesting how he started out poor and became rich. The author did a great job describing all that Houdini did. I recomend this book to anyone who wants to learn about Houdini or is interested in magic tricks because that is what the book is all about.

Iwan's book report

Title: Caught by the sea

Author: Gary Paulsen

Publisher: Dell Laurel-leaf

Place & year of publication: September 2004

Where I found it: CHS library

Number of pages: 103 pg.

Summery

After Gary Paulsen retires from the army he decides to head out to sea.  While reading he takes you along on his maiden voyage. He also proves that ignorance can be a real bliss and dangerous.  His inspiration to go sailing and to buy a sailboat came when a Hollywood star invited him and a few writers to his cabin by the lake. One morning going for a walk he meets a man who offers to take him sailing on the lake.  He enjoyed it so much he decided to buy his own sailboat.

Finding a sailboat wasn’t as easy as he thought. Some looked brilliant from the outside, but inside the wood was rotten right trough. So he tells of the many boats he had good, bad and beloved and how they brought him trough many storms.

Gary takes you on his journey on the Pacific Ocean.  Sailing under the stars, fighting monster waves, sailing in tropical lagoons where dolphin’s leap by his side. Gary Paulsen takes readers on his lifelong learning curve, because you don’t learn to sail overnight and readers will see why his passion has lasted unto this day.

Christian perspective

There isn’t really much that the character does wrong from an Christian perspective. Gary didn’t say he was a Christian and but trough his writing you can see Christian characteristics like patience. In this book there is no battle between good and evil, but some of the businessmen did cheat him by trying to sell him old and rotten boats at extremely high prices.

My thoughts

I don’t really like biographies but this one wasn’t too bad.  It was an action and adventure packed book and I would recommend this to someone who likes adventure books and is forced to read a biography. 

My Name's Not Susie

Title: My Names Not Susie
Author: Sharon Jean Hamilton
Publisher: Boynton/Cook Publishers and Heinemann
Date of Publication: September. 18th, 1995
Number of Pages: 151
Where I found the book: Brandon Library

Story Review:
The significant the title has to the book ("My Names's Not Susie"), is when Karen's biolocal parents dropped her off at the orphanage. The caregivers had no idea what to name her. So they decided Susie. When Karen would get adopted, the families would call her Susie because that's what they thought her name was. And also, when Karen wanted to go out and look for her biolocal parents, the caregivers would stop her make Karen call them "mommy".


This story is about a girl named Karen. She has been in eighteen different orphanges. She got put in so many because she got rejected by her parents. A lot of families had conifirmed to keep her, but they realized she wasn't the right one. Karen's disobedience has led her the wrong path in life. Being uneducated was the worst for someone that wanted to go to school like the other kids and make friends. Instead of going to school, she got abused at strangers houses. They made her do stuff that made her feel uncomfortable and frightend her. Every Sunday she went to church with the orphanage. But once she hit 18, she stopped. She got a job and moved out with her boyfriend. He was a horrible influence towards her. He was the one that stopped her from going to church. He also got her in the habit of stealing; little as a chocolate, to alcohol. He also made her lie to the caregivers where she was, and what she was doing. Even though she was out of the orphanage, they still had to keep in touch with Karen. For the days Karen had gone ot church, she remembered the 10 Commandments and had just realized, she had been doing most of them. Karen moved to England and went to university to get a PhD in nursing. "My life couldn't get better" Karen Jean Hamiliton said.


Christian Perspective:
In my thoughts, this was a Christian book. Growing up, Karen did go to church and learn about God. But once she hit 18 things started changing. It said she regretted all the things she did when she turned away from God. When she diid turn away from God, it never ment she couldn't pray about the dicisions she was making. Karen Jean Hamiliton (author and main character)  is a Christian. In some of her other books, she talks about God a lot more.

My Thoughts:
I really liked this book because of all the details and how the it was written. It also put a date and year on the top of each paragraph to help the readers understand what she went through day by day. The book also had an amazing quote in each chapter of what Karen said after she went through that. I think Karen was a very strong girl by taking the risks and decisions she had made. I recommend this book to someone who loves reading biographies. I picked this book because i haven't done a biography yet and it's something I don't usually pick up and read everyday.

Elena's Book Review, April 18th

Title: No Safe Harbour

Author: Julie Lawson

Publisher: Scholastic Canada Ltd.

Date Published/Where: January 2006, Canada

Where I found the book: Library

Number of Pages: 249

Summary

This is the diary of Charlotte Blackburn. The story is sadly very true no matter how much I want to deny it. No Safe Harbour is given it's title to show how much impact the Halifax explosion had. And how nothing would really ever feel safe again for even the bravest survivors of the explosion. As I'm sure you've already guessed, the themes in this diary are one's of sorrow and grief. Something is seriously wrong with you if you do not shed a tear if you choose to read this story, but I guess you will have to read and find out for yourself.

Charlotte Blackburn is 12 years old and has lived a very normal life. She grew up in Halifax Nova Scotia, and although she had a big family, was closest to her twin brother Duncan, and her oldest brother Luke; he was, after all, the one who gave Charlotte this diary in the first place. With Luke off fighting in the war, things are not easy for the Blackburn's. Money was very rare, and time was even scarcer. But the family had such a strong love for one another, that no one seemed to care much.

Charlotte did however, have one sister, Ruth, whom she truly detested. She got along splendidly with Edith, the eldest of the sisters, but Ruth was another story. Duncan and Charlotte would spy on her, trying not to be heard laughing, as Ruth flirted with the sailors down by the bay. But Mrs. Blackburn was sure that some day the two girls would click.

"Were am I ?" All that Charlotte knew was that if she closed her eyes, some one would think she was dead, and take her away. A nurse came to cut off her hair, and Charlotte tried to protest, until she realized that it was matted with bits of glass, and dry blood. She was scared to sleep, and scared to stay awake.

A girl named Violet was sharing Charlotte's bed. Violet was a few years younger then Charlotte, and was missing an eye; they had to take it out since it had splinters of glass in it. The Nurses told Charlotte that she was lucky that her eyes were healthy. But after seeing people come in on stretchers with half a face, no head, and even on fire, she certainly wished that the explosion had taken her eyes.

Explosion: was that why she was here? No, she didn't want to think about it. She couldn't cry, not now. But a voice in her head was screaming for some one to hold her. Charlotte couldn't bear it any more. Why weren't they coming for her? Why did they... Then something clicked. They were dead. "Stop Charlotte, your just imagining things", she told herself, "Wake up Charlotte, you need to help Mom with the chores, and there is no time for silly nightmares. "

But she didn't wake up, she didn't dare believe what any one said until she was too tired to protest. "Charlotte, I need you to be brave", the nurse said gently, "Edith and your dad are gone, so is Ruth. But that's all we know. We are doing our best to find Duncan and your mom, but after the blizzard almost all the survivors that were still out there are dead from the frost. We will try Charlotte, there is hope." Charlotte couldn't cry. She wanted to let the tears roll down her cheek, but they wouldn't come all she felt was a stab of utter loss. She waited as the spear plunged through her body, killing the Charlotte she used to be. Until finally all that was left was a weak and helpless orphan.

‘Dad always said that God only gives us what we can handle’ Charlotte thought, ‘well then God certainly doesn’t know me!’ Charlotte's dad was a pastor and had always believed that God would get them trough hard times, but Charlotte couldn't believe that, in fact, if it hadn't been for the abrupt interruption, she might not have believed in God ever again. "Charlotte", the nurse came in out of breath,"we found Duncan!" And that was all she needed to carry on. She had her brother and God was going to protect them.

My Thoughts

I enjoyed this book very much and strongly recommend this book to absolutely any one. You will connect so well with Charlotte, and understand how her life was in 1917. You will grow so attached to her life that you, in fact, become one of the survivors of the terrible Halifax explosion. If you do choose this book however, you must know that it is not a happy book. But please take that chance. Having been in Halifax before and visiting the Maritime Museum, it was especially meaningful to me. Charlotte's story will make you forget everything but turning those pages.

Christian Perspective

I do believe that this book was written from a Christian perspective. Charlotte was most definitely a Christian, ( at least she came from a Christian family, and shared that influence with many people) And through out the book, you can see many, many Christ-like characteristics. I was very inspired by the love of the Blackburn family, and how even death did not stop that. Charlotte had so much hope. She started out hoping for ice cream on a scorching hot summer's day, to hoping that her brother was still out there, alive. Even when Charlotte had doubts she carried on. Through out her whole life, Charlotte remembered the words of her father, 'God only gives us what we can handle'. And Charlotte now truly believed it. When she grew up she married a Pastor and they had a beautiful family. Although Charlotte never forgot the horrible day when she lost sight of hope, she also never forgot how God got her through it.

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.

Nelson Mandela-" No Easy Walk To Freedom"

Title: NELSON MANDELA
Author: Barry Denenberg
Publisher: Scholastic
Place and Year of publication:
Published in New York in 1995
Number of pages: 174
Where I found the book: In Christian Heritage School library

Nelson Rolihlahla Mandela was born in Transkei, South Africa on July 18, 1918. This book title is “No Easy Walk to Freedom” this explains Nelson Mandela mission, he wanted freedom for his people and he knew that this is a hard way to walk. This takes place in South Africa from the years 1942-1994. His father was Chief Henry Mandela of the Tembu Tribe. When Nelson was 12 years old, his father died. Before he died he saw to it that his son was placed in good care of an uncle who was also a tribal chief. Nelson attended schools run by missionaries and he later on became a good Christian. When Nelson was 20 years old he enrolled in Fort Hare College which was one of the few universities in South Africa which allowed black students. Nelson
was interested in politics and he thought he might become a lawyer. By studying law he might be able to help his people obtain their lawful citizenship rights. The theme of the book is fight
for what you believe is right and don’t stop until you get what you wanted. Nelson Mandela fight for freedom was right and he didn’t stop until he won that freedom for himself and his people which then changed many lives.


In 1942, Nelson joined the African National Congress (ANC), which at the time was polite to the government, soon Nelson Mandela had persuaded the ANC to use boycotts and strikes against the government instead of being polite. He was arrested for civil disobedience, and was not allowed to attend gatherings. In his spare time, Nelson Mandela studied to become a lawyer so
that he could protect blacks. Working as a lawyer strengthened his feelings against apartheid. After the Shapesville massacre in which many blacks were killed, the white rule banned the ANC. Nelson went underground, he created the MK, which was the military portion of the ANC. Nelson arranged military training in Algeria for the MK members. He launched a sabotage campaign. On his return from Algeria he was arrested for going between countries without a passport, and was tried for sabotage and attempting to overthrow the government. He spent
the next 28 years in prison. Before going to prison he said, “Make every home, every shack or rickety structure into a learning center.”

When he got to Robben Island where he was to be imprisoned Nelson was told to jog to the prison gate. He refused and he and the other prisoners started a hunger strike to get better living conditions. The prisoners won. They also found ways to communicate with other prisoners. A few
methods were: Writing messages on toilet paper, hiding messages in the bottom of food buckets, and slipping notes in the dirty dishes .While Nelson was in prison he was offered freedom if he would stop his violent actions. He refused this offer. During Nelson Mandela’s jail time he had secret talks with South Africa’s president, P.W. Botha, and his successor, F.W. de Klerk. As a result, in 1990 he was freed. He was appointed Deputy President of the ANC. In July of
1991, Nelson Mandela was appointed President of the ANC. Nelson decided to join the government and other parties to negotiate South Africa’s future. Finally everyone came to agree on a majority rule constitution. This constitution states that racial discrimination is
against the law. In 1993, Nelson Mandela shared the Nobel Peace Prize with F.W. de Klerk for dismantling apartheid, and in 1994 he became the first democratically elected South African president.


Christian thoughts

Nelson Mandela was raised as a Christian when he was young, the book describes him as a strong
and humble Christian. Nelson Mandela was fighting for freedom for the black people during the racist government. Blacks started to believe that God made them to be slaves and that white men should rule, Nelson disagreed with that type of thinking. When Nelson and the ANC were on strike they noticed that the white South African government wasn’t listening to them which led Nelson into using violence. If I was in his spot I would have prayed and asked God to help
me fight for what is right. The book never mentions anything about Mandela repenting and asking God to forgive him. Spending 28 years in jail may have caused him to realize that using violence was wrong. Overall, he put others before him which is a good Christian trait.


My thoughts

I chose this book because I have always heard of Nelson Mandela but I never knew anything about who he was and what he did, so this helped me increase my knowledge about him. I think this book was really informing on teaching me how some governments treated the black people. Biography’s are not my favorite type of reading, but this author used nice and simple vocabulary making it easy for me to read the book. Reasons I like this book is because it has a really
good story to teach which is having perseverance. I recommend this book for the type of people interested in learning about racism and fighting for what you believe in.

Guts

Title: Guts
Author: Gary Paulsen
Publisher: Dell Laurel Leaf
Place and year of publication: New York 2001
Number of pages: 148
Where I found the book: school library


Theme of this book: wilderness, and determination

(This is just one episode I wrote about.)


Story Review: The title of this book is Guts, it is about real events that inspired Gary Paulsen write the story Hatchet, The River, Brian’s winter and Brian’s Return. When Gary Paulsen was in Brian’s age he was devoted to hunting and fishing.At that time he lived in a small town in northern Minnesota. Every day when school let out he would made for the woods near town. On Fridays he would sometimes set up camp near the river so he could get early start for hunting and fishing.
One afternoon he saw deer trails on the edge of a swamp and heard something big jumped in the air and landed on the swamp. As in two seconds he raised his bow and drew the arrow back. With few shots the deer was dead. But the problem was transporting the dead deer it was hard because he had to drag the deer to the highway then tie him a cross the bicycle and had to push him back to town. It was midnight when he got back. And his life moved on and there were some better hunt and some worse. After that he did not think about this buck again until it was time for him to write Hatchet when the buck became part of Brian’s life as well as his.

My Thoughts: I chose this book because I wanted to read Gary Paulsen’s biography. I actually enjoyed this book because it gave a lot of information about surviving alone in wilderness and some interesting facts about animals. I recommend this book to a person who would like to learn about hunting and surviving alone in wilderness.

Christian Perspective: I don’t think this book was written in Christian perspective because Gray Paulsen did not react in Christ like way, for example, If Gary Paulsen was Christian he could have prayed for his parents being drunk all day. But we, as Christians, need to learn from his determination and courage and sometimes we need to be bold like him so we could be confident.

Helen Keller

Helen Keller

Title: Helen Keller

Author: Leslie Garrett

Publisher: DK Publishing

Place and year of publication: New York, 2004

Number of pages: 127

Where I found the book: school’s library

Story:

This book is inspired by Helen Keller. This book is about her life, her struggles, and her achievements. Helen had a brain fever she was only one and half year old. After some days, her fever broke. No one knew what the fever had done to Helen. One day, when sunlight was hitting Helen’s face, she didn’t turn away from the bright light. She wasn’t blinking her eyes, Helen was blind. Few days later, her mom realized that she was deaf too.

Helen got to know members of her family: her parents, her step brothers, James and William; her aunt Ev and the servants. She used her simple signs to communicate with her family. For example, for bread, she would imitate cutting and putting butter on slices. For ice cream, she would shiver. Helen had developed 60 signs.

One of Helen’s favorite pranks was locking people in rooms. One day, she locked her mother in the pantry, after 3 hours she was found and released. The Keller’s endured Helen’s pranks until her behavior and her pranks became danger to Mildred (her new baby sister). One day, Helen saw Mildred sleeping in her favorite doll’s cradle. She turned the cradle over. Luckily, Mildred wasn’t hurt.

Helen’s parents started to find someone who can help Helen. After some time, a teacher was found. The teacher’s name was Anne Mansfield Suvillian. Anne had a terrible childhood herself. When she was 3 years old, she rubbed her eye because it itched. She had an infection. Then they took her to a doctor told them the problem was Trachoma. He gave them some medicine to put in Annie’s eye but it didn’t help either. Later Annie’s mother developed Tuberculosis. Her mother was expecting a baby. He was born with a disfigured hip because of Tuberculosis. Another baby was born named Mary. Few days later, Annie’s mother died. Annie was sent to a poor house along with Jimmy, her brother. Later, Jimmy died too. Annie had no one left. Then she graduated from an institution for blind. By the early 1887, Annie felt ready to educate Helen Keller.

The first thing she asked when they reached the house she asked “where’s Helen?” Helen’s dad pointed at the front porch. Annie was shocked t her arms to see Helen’s appearance. Helen felt some footsteps coming towards her. Helen thought it was her mother and she hugged her. Then Helen twisted her arms to get free and ran away from her. Curious, she came back and touched her face, her clothes etc.

Helen came to Annie’s room and Annie gave her a doll which was a present from the Perkins students. Helen loved that doll. Annie took Helen’s hand and carefully spelled D-O-L-L in Helen’s palm, she repeated it over and over again. Helen began to shape the letters herself. Annie took the doll from her and she wanted Helen to spell doll into Annie’s hand and she would return it. Helen had another idea. She launched her fist at Annie, she knew that Helen might do that and she was ready. She grabbed Helen’s arm and held it tightly. Helen ran out of the room. But curiosity brought her back. Helen thought of the spelling on the palm as game and they played it daily. One day, Annie took Helen to a water pump. First she made Helen touch the water and then she wrote W-A-T-E-R on her hand. Helen was confused. She did it again and again. Finally, Helen understood that she was trying to tell her that each word is actually a thing in real life. She asked Annie to spell what everything was in her palm every day.

When Helen grew up, she wanted to go to Radcliffe, which is the sister, school of Harvard. Cambridge school was made especially for girls who wanted to attend Radcliffe. In October 1896, she started attending Cambridge. It was pretty hard for Helen and she was studying history, German, Latin, and literature. Annie was not allowed to be with her during exemptions, instead her teacher spelled the questions into her palm. Finally after all the hard work, she got an acceptance letter from Radcliffe. Helen was the first handicap to attend the university. She arrived in fall of 1900. In 1903, Helen published her first book named The Story of My Life. In June 1904, Helen graduated from Radcliffe.

Helen wanted to become a socialist. She wanted to fight against the reason why most people become blind: Poverty. In 1909 she became a member in a socialist party. Then she started a lecture tour. In 1913, she was ready to take the stage. Helen was so terrified that she said that she would always remember this day even till her last breath.

Later she took some break from the socialist work and wrote some books which were: My religion and Midstream: My Afterlife. Helen was really exhausted from all the writing. My religion was inspired by the teachings of Emanuel Swedenborg.

On October 20, 1936, Annie died. Helen lost the person who she cared and loved the most. Helen’s friends were worried that now Annie gone she would fall apart. Annie’s remains were placed in National Cathedral in Washington. She was the first woman to receive such an honor.

In 1964,Helen received a presidential medal of freedom. After an year later, she was elected to the Women’s Hall of Fame at New York World’s Fair. In late May she had a heart attack and on June 1^st she died quietly. She had lived a wonderful life and she knew when she died she would be able to see and hear.

Christian perspective:

I think this book is written in Christian perspective. As a socialist, she wanted to help people who were in need and spread God’s love and show them that He cares and loves them a lot. She had a hope in her that she wanted to help to stop the reasons people became blind after birth. She went to wounded men and gave them courage and told them that life isn’t over.

My thoughts

I really loved this book. The things I loved the most about the book were to see her courage and how she stood up for her rights. She achieved most of her goals even though she was disabled like graduating from Radcliffe, and she was also known as the most educated deaf and blind person in the world. I decided to read this book because a friend recommended this book to me. I would recommend this book to a person who enjoys reading about people’s lives and the amazing things they have done.