animal farm

Title: animal farm

Author: George Orwell

Publisher: penguin books

Place and year of publication: Irland 1951

Number of pages: 122

Where you found it: at my house

Plot

The story begins where the oldest pig on the farm, Old Major has a dream. He then calls a meeting to tell all the animals about it.The name of the farm was: Manor Farm. He said he had a dream about a rebellion were the animals would take over and all humans will be expelled from the farm. Three days after the meeting  he died and was buried under a tree in the orchard. The animals rebelled and  expelled Mr. Jones (the farmer) and his men from the farm and changed the name to “Animal Farm”. After the pigs took charge, the smartest two Snowball and Napoleon becomes the leaders, but they hate each other. As the farm starts to prosper, the pigs became even more selfish taking larger ration than the others animals. Snowball still wanted everybody to be equal. Not long after that Napoleon used his trained fierce dogs to expel Snowball from the farm and with this a couple of communistic themes appear for example:

•  Totalitarianism
•  They used  intelligence and education as tools of oppression
•  Propaganda
•  Violence and terror as means of control

Napoleon and the other pigs are corrupted by the absolute power they hold over the farm. Eventually the animal laws were replaced by their favorite slogan: All animals are equal, but some are more equal than others”,and “Four legs good, two legs better!”as the pigs become more human.

The book was rejected by 4 publishers before it was published on 17 August 1945 in England the reason for this was that it reflects events leading up to and during the Stalin era before World War II. Orwell was a strong critic of Stalinism.

Christian Perspective

This book is written from a political perspective in the form of a fable.

The characters in the book didn’t act in a Christian way, but in a communistic way.

The writer couldn’t change the way the characters acted, because it would change the meaning of the book and he wanted to expose communism for what it was.

I don’t agree with communism and it is far from Christianity.

What I think of the book and to whom I would recommend it.

I think animal farm is a brilliant book. And a perfect explanation of communism.

This book is directly aimed at Russia and countries like  China. I like the book, because it shows that communism starts with small things that becomes bigger and more noticeable with time.

I would recommend this book to any one that likes politics and the way communism and other government structures work.

Scout the secret of
the swamp
Author: Peit Prins
publisher: inheritance publication
place and year: 2006 in Canada
number of pages: 223
where I found this book: My mom got
it at a home schooling conference



Story review
the title is
scout the secret of the swamp cause the dogs name is Scout and the secret is in
the swamp
the setting
is in the swamp and the date and time is world war two the main characters are
Tom, Scout, Bert, Carl, Mr. and Mrs. Sanders, Miriam and Ina
the Germans sent
a spy to the Canadians side to tell them to go through the swamp at night But
tom and his friends heard and went through the swamp and meet some dangers on
the way. they try to sneak through the swamp and almost get caught and Scout
gets caught. the theme is World War two and I would definitely read it for the
fourth time

Christian perspective
this is already a Christian book and so I cant
really don't need to say anything but Tom and his friends are very lucky to get
saved many times

your thoughts
I chose this
book cause i read it alot. it's a really good book and i love these kind of
books. I would recommend this book to anyone who likes adventure books cause
this is a adventure book

Title: The Capture

Author: Kathryn Lasky

Place and year of publication: June, 2003
557 Broadway, New York.

Number of pages: 226 pages

Where you found the book: CHS Library

Story Review: I think this book is called The Capture because Soren(main character)was captured by St. Aegolius Academy. This book takes place in the forest of Tyto where the barn owls home land is. Before Soren was captured by St.Aegolius Academy patrol his life was perfectly normal. He had a new baby owl sister and his older brother Kludd and of course his mom and his dad. Because of his evil brother. He was taken to the dark frightening canyon called orphanage. He and his friend Gylfie suspects that it’s going to get far worse… To escape, the will need to try something new; fly. Along the way Soren and Gylfie bumps into Digger and Twilight, together they seek the truth and face unthinkable danger.

My thoughts I chose this book because a friend of mine recommended to me. I liked this book because it had a lot of adventures and mysteries in it. And I also enjoyed the part when the four bands of owls work together and seek the truths. In my opinion this book is a great I really enjoy reading how Soren reacts to his problem and solving it. I recommend this book to anyone who enjoys reading about adventures and mysteries

Christian perspective: some of the reasons why I don’t think this book is written from a Christian perspectives are, does not include anything from the bible, it doesn’t include anything about what would Jesus do. And it could have been written with a lot more Godly in it

Demiana's Book Review (Snow Bound)

Snow Bound
Author: Harry Mazer
Publisher: Bantam Doubleday Dell Publishing Inc.
Place & Year of publication: 1540 Broadway, New York, NY, USA. Year 1973
Number of pages: 142
Found in Christian Heritage School’s library

Story Review:

If you ever think about surviving in a forbidden region bound in snow, it usually means thinking about death! You can’t build a fire while it’s snowing and no one will even think about looking for you in such area, because of the weather. However, what makes it even worse is that if you’re stuck with someone you absolutely hate. Harry Mazer describes the tough survival of the lost Cindy and Tony in the forbidden Tug Hill Plateau near New York State in mid-January, 1970’s, as they were bound and put into the hands of what seams to be an endless cold snow storm of misery in Tug Hill, hence the title “Snow Bound”. This book was written in themes of survival, urgency, and change, because young teens were changed, desperate, turned around 180 degrees through the effects and discoveries of survival, and always feeling the urgency to find a way out of disaster!

Tony was a spoiled teen with attitude. He always got what he wanted and came from a family that was very high-tempered and aggressive. As he wandered through the streets, looking for a change in his life through his surroundings, he found a lost dog and instantly developed a deep connection with him. He decided to take him home. When Tony asked his father if he could keep the dog, the first word that went on his father’s mouth was NO! They had a huge argument, until Tony decided to secretly keep him. Later at night, the landlords were disturbed by the dog and Tony’s father got rid of it. Tony got so frustrated and angry at his father when he found out, because he loved that dog and it was gone. He said he wanted to “teach his father a lesson”, so he took his mom’s car and decides to drive in the severe storm all the way to his uncle in Canada behind his family’s back!

On the other side there was Cindy, a quite, aloof, and independent girl, who came from a rich and very musical family. Her only problem was that she was a hitchhiker which led her to danger. As she waited in the bus stop for the bus to Watertown, she was angry at the fact that there could be a delay of 2-3 hours. She decided to hitchhike behind her grandma’s back and it just so happened that the second car to stop by was Tony’s. She got in the car and there was an awkward silence between them. The storm started getting worse and worse and the visibility lower and lower. When Tony pretended to know where he was going to calm Cindy down, a vicious blow of snow took their sight away and Tony went out of control with the car. As they were violently bumped into rocks and fields, they hit what they didn’t except to find! They hit a huge rock that threw the car half up in the air and then the car came back down!

They were shocked and unbelievably hurt. They wasted a lot of time bickering with each other and assigning blame. They were on their last nerves and were freaking out. They were in the middle of no where without any sources, it was impossible for them to leave the car in this weather, and the worst thing was that the car engine wasn’t going neither was the heater! They needed fire. They argued over starting a fire inside the car, but it was settled. At least, there had to be a small fire for survival. For that they used a cigarette lighter found in the car and paper. Now there was another problem, food! After they started to get along a little bit, Tony decided he was going to go on a journey to find something, just anything to help them live. During his search, after days of struggles, fear of vicious attacks, and suffering, he lost hope and started praying desperately until he found it! He found a stream of water that led him to an old, abandoned cabin. This was the best moment of his life as he found in there furniture and lots of food. He stayed for another day and came back to the patiently waiting Cindy. They were overfilled with joy. They took what could be useful and left. When they found the cabin, they thought it was impossible for anything horrible to happen again, only until they left.

Tony broke his ankle and they got in a huge fight! Without thinking, Cindy decided to leave him because that was what he asked for. That was it; they were tired of the constant arguments and didn’t think any of this through. However, when she heard the cry of Tony, she stopped and turned to look at what could’ve been the end of their lives, a wolf! She ran, pulling Tony on the sled behind her! When they got far away, they realized that they left everything behind them and that they didn’t have any tools of survival. He stood up with one hand on a stick and put the other hand over Cindy’s shoulder to keep his balance. They walked and walked in the unending forest with new hope. Hope that wouldn’t have been there if they didn’t realize that the only tool of survival they had left was nothing except each other! Did they ever find anything again, or were they found by someone? If not what would’ve been their last actions or words to each other?


Christian Perspective:

This book was not written in a Christian perspective, however, Tony did pray once in his journey to the cabin. What was not Christ-like what so ever would’ve been Tony’s attitude! He had a rejecting, selfish, and proud attitude that developed hate and caused many problems – him running away, being rude and vicious with Cindy, and getting lost in the first place. Also, the way Cindy left him showed carelessness from her not Christ’s love. However, they did both learn their lesson at the end. Hate brings foolishness and love brings hope. Without Cindy coming back to save him from the wolf and both of them accepting each other, there would’ve been no hope except now in that case.


My Thoughts:

I enjoyed this book very much! I chose this book, because I enjoy reading adventure and realistic fiction. I’ve enjoyed the Hatchet and I wondered what the storyline of survival would be like if it were a group of people instead of one person alone. The reason this book is very interesting is that it describes how tough it is to survive with someone else if you don’t put your differences in how you do things aside. The author did an amazing job especially in leaving behind the reader with a question in his/her mind at the end of each chapter that he/she will be desperate to find the answer for! The author used very descriptive words with good connotation and used lots of similes, metaphors, and personification. I learned a lot about the hardships of survival and some new techniques on surviving in the winter. I recommend this book to those who enjoyed reading the Hatchet, because if you did that shows you were interested in the theme of survival. You’ll be very engaged in this book as there is more dialogue because there are two lost people not just one. I hope you enjoy the book!

Meredith's Book Review

Title: Dragon Rider

Author: Cornelia Funke

Publisher: Scholastic Inc.

Place and Year of Publication: United Kingdom, 2004

Number of Pages: 523

Where You Found the Book: On the bookshelf at home

Story Review:

This story begins in a valley occupied by dragons who receive the news that humans are moving in to flood their valley. One of the young dragons named Firedrake decides to go out in search of the Rim of Heaven with his cat-like friend Sorrel for a place to stay in peace, but that is believed by many to be nonexistent. Firedrake, on the other hand, has always dreamed of finding that magical place high in the mountains where dragons are said to be hiding in safety from Nettlebrand the Golden One, and where they are safe from humans. Nettlebrand is a mighty creature that appears as a dragon but really was made by an alchemist with a secret recipe. After being created, Nettlebrand ate his master and hunted silver dragons, such as Firedrake. Even though they have tried, the silver dragons cannot melt Nettlebrand’s golden scales, and they have been hiding from him ever since his last huge hunt. They are said to be hiding in the Rim of Heaven, and Firedrake is determined to find them.

During the journey, Firedrake and Sorrel run into a boy named Ben. Ben decides that he wants to go with Firedrake and Sorrel on their journey, and that’s where the title comes from. Ben is believed to be the rider who will fulfill the legends from long ago and who will bring safety for the dragons. After receiving a map from a rat that they were told to visit, they go on their way. Sorrel thinks that he should be in charge of giving directions, but lands in a place that is shaded yellow on the map, which means danger. They happen to land right near Nettlebrand’s castle, and the Golden One sends his armor cleaner Twigleg to spy on the dragon during his journey so that he can give Nettlebrand directions to the Rim of Heaven and so that Nettlebrand can hunt once again. Ben the “Dragon Rider” is a key character in this book and his adventures are a main part of the storyline.

On their journey, the three companions run into many more problems, and meet many new creatures such as a basilisk, a sea serpent, enchanted ravens that are also Nettlebrand’s spies, and a djinn with a thousand eyes. Will Firedrake find the Rim of Heaven? Will Twigleg stay faithful to Nettlebrand? Will Nettlebrand ever be defeated? Will the existence of dragons disappear forever? You’ll just have to read the book and find out! This story will take you through many adventures as you discover hidden secrets and sense a theme of adventure, suspense and fantasy.

Christian Perspective:

I don’t think this book was written from a Christian perspective because it’s a fantasy about dragons and other mythical creatures with no symbolism in it like Chronicles of Narnia for instance. In this book, there is a place called the “Rim of Heaven.” We believe that after you die you may or may not go to heaven and that there is no physical place that takes up matter and space that is heaven, but rather that it is a realm. In the book it refers to the safe place for dragons as the “Rim of Heaven,” and it doesn’t have anything to do with heaven as we know it. I think the reason the term “Heaven” is used is because we think of heaven as a perfect place to live in peace and that’s exactly what is was for the dragons. Even though this book wasn’t written from a Christian perspective I didn’t find it offensive or disrespectful to Christianity at any point.

Personal Thoughts:

I have read this book numerous amounts of times, and each time I discover something new. I chose this book at first because it seemed really interesting, and I chose to read it again because I really like the story line and I hadn’t read it in a long time. Even though the amount of pages may seem intimidating to some, it is fairly large print and the pages are small. Trust me, once you get into this book, you can’t stop yourself. I read it in only a few days, and I never got bored of it. I really liked it because it always left you with a cliffhanger and it always kept you thinking. You had to try to figure out what was going to happen next and had to try to put all the pieces together for it to make sense. I could really picture myself in the scene with the characters, and could also feel what they were feeling. I would recommend this book to people who like fantasy books because this book is all fantasized. The author had a really creative imagination and I think that people who don’t usually enjoy fantasy might even like this book!

Pictures Of Holls Woods

Pictures of HollisWoods!!

Title: picture of holliswoods

Author: Patricia ReillyGiff

Publisher: ScholasticInc.

Place and year ofpublication: 557 Broadway, New York, NY 10012, 2002

Number of pages: 166

Where I found the book:CHS library

Pictures of Hollis Woodsby Patricia Reilly Giff is an emotional story about a little girl searching fora family. This book has themes of joy, sadness, sympathy, and adventure! HollisWoods was left with nothing, nothing but the news paper she was lying on andthe note that said to name her Hollis Woods when she was 10 days old. HollisWoods is abandoned as a baby and spends her life being sent to various fosterhomes. Her story alternates between the time she spends with Josie Cahill andthe summer she spent with the Regan family, who wanted to adopt her. Picturesof Hollis Woods is a heart-warming novel about a troubled girl finding a familywho will love her.

She was known as a "mountain of trouble" because she wasalways running away from the homes she was sent to if she didn't like them. Shenever goes to school and has just found a home shelikes. Her foster parent was Josie Cahill and she as an old artteacher who is losing her memory and now Hollis must be taken away from her. She also was sent to another home she reallyliked over the summer. That was the Regan family.

Inthe Regan family there was Izzy who was the mother, the Old Man who was thefather, and Stephan who was the son. Hollis got along with everyone in thefamily. She could always talk to Izzy who would make candyand try to keep things under control. The Old Man and Stephan were alwaysfighting but still loved each other. Stephan and Hollis made very good friendsand were always doing everything together. She mentions Stephan a lot in herflashbacks. Now there's a new addition to the family, her name is Christina andis a six-week-old baby girl that Izzy just had. Christina made the family complete for Hollis.

"Themustard woman." She's the one who is arranging homes for Hollis. She hasearned the name the mustard woman from Hollis who saw her for the first timewith a large mustard stain on her sweat pants. Hollisisn't too fond of her because she's going to take Hollis away from Josie.Hollis is actually happy with Josie and isn't considering running away from heranytime at all. She's setting her up with another home because of Josie'smemory problem. BUT... will Hollis get to stay with Josie? Is Hollis’ searchfor the perfect family over? Pictures Of Hollis Woods.....

Christian Perspective

Hollishas gone through a lot in her life. The one thing everyone needs is a family,someone to love them and care for them. Hollis thought she didn’t have that,but what she didn’t know is that God is with her wherever she goes. That’s thesame with us, when times of trouble come we need to turn to God and He will bethere for us. Nothing here on earth will satisfy us in anyway, even though itmight seem that way at the time. Heavenly things always will over power earthlythings! Depend on nothing and nobody except God! God is the one guaranty ofsatisfaction!!!

My Thoughts

Ireally liked this book, this book taught me to appreciate the family that Ihave! This book was recommended to me by our school librarian, and I turned outliking it! I would recommend this book to someone who is searching for the “perfect family” or someone who needs encouragementof hope for finding the family!! What each person`s thoughts on a perfectfamily is different. Maybe you come from a family with one parent or even noparents. I never stop to think on how lucky I am to have both my parentstogether. Even if I don’t think my family is perfect I still know that withthem I would probably be on the streets. A prefect family to Hollis was peoplethat she liked. She had been to many foster homes that she can`t keep track ofhow many she has been in. I think there is no such thing as a ``perfect family``, all families havesome flaws, some bigger than others and some even more noticeable that others.But all that doesn’t matter, what matters is that you have some that caresabout you. Even if you don’t think so there is someone out there that cares foryou!!

Everest: book one: The Contest

Title: Everest: book one: The contest
Author: Gordon Korman
Publisher: Scholastic
Place and year of publication: U.S.A, August 2002
Number of pages: 138
Where I found the book: School Library

The Contest is the name of the book and it is book 1 of the Everest trilogy. The story takes place in Summit Athletic Sports Training Facility in High Falls, Colorado located in Rocky Mountains, another location was a mountain named Lucifer’s claw in Alaska. The story dates to a couple of years back. The reason the book is named The Contest is because there is a contest
between 20 candidates and of the 20 only 4 will be chosen to climb Everest, the people in the story are excited to enter this competition because they will be the youngest team to ever climb Everest. The main characters are Dominic, there’s Chris, his older brother, Tilt Crowley, a ruthless poor boy, Bryn Fielder, Samantha Moon, a fearless 15-year-old, and Perry Noonan. The Theme of this book is always aim for the highest and never give up. When you think there is no way out, find ways to solve it.

Dominic, 13, has won one of five wildcard spots for a four-week intensive boot camp competition in Colorado while his older brother, Chris, was already attending because he is second best climber in the country. 15 people are chosen by Cap Cicero (The leader of the expedition and world famous climber) and the other 5 are entered from winning a contest sponsored by Summit Athletic fuel juice, this is how Dominic entered. When Chris and Dominic went to the training facility in Colorado they were amazed of the extra ordinary training facility along with the other 17 climbers. The reason of having only 19 people was because Cap was reserving a spot for 16 year old boy who has already climbed Everest; his name was Ethan Zaph also known as the Z-man. So Cap’s job was to choose 3 kids out of 19 to climb Everest and he would do that through boot camp. The boot camp was so intense that few people quit on the first day. Every week Cap would choose 3 to leave the team. It came down to Chris (Dominc’s older brother), Bryn Fielder (the country’s top female alpinist), and Perry Noonan, whose billionaire uncle is footing the bill for the entire expedition and the Z-man. However, Tilt, Dominic, and Samantha where going back home. While Tilt, Dominic, and Samantha where riding the car back to the airport, they turned on the radio and heard that Ethan Zaph was joining another climbing team so they went back and told Cap about the change.

When cap heard this he was outraged and now he had to pick Tilt, Dominic, and Samantha.
Cap chose Samantha to take Ethan’s place. So now Perry, Sammi, Bryn and Chris are in the original team. The team changed for many reasons like Chris Alexis was kicked off because he was too old and he wouldn’t beat any records so Dominic took Chris’s spot. Cap thought they were now ready for real practice, so he took them to Alaska in a mountain called Lucifer’s claw. Cap was there to make sure they were doing everything right. When they got high up they would set up tents and sleep there for the night. While everyone was in deep sleep, Perry couldn’t sleep, so he got out the tent to take a breather at 2:30am and while he went out he saw Bryn walking towards the cliff. He tried to stop her but she kept walking and fell off. Perry panicked and woke up the whole team. He told Cap that she had fell off and Cap went down to save her with the help of Dominic. Something they didn’t know was Bryn had a history of sleep walking. They discovered she was still alive but lots of her bones were broken and that why the called in a chopper to pick her up and they called Tilt to replace Bryn. This is the end of book one but there is still book 2 and 3 where they pick up off where book one ended.

Christian perspective
This book is not written with a Christian perspective. But Christ like behaviours reflected, Dominic would think of others first and he was the only character that wasn’t judgemental and he never gave up. One thing that really amazed me was that one of the characters mentioned there is no such thing as luck only God’s will and that is something I would agree with. Some of the characters would say “thank God”. I think the book hints some religious characters. A way
this book can be more Christian, if it would mention them praying to God for strength and help during the boot camp and that they would stay physically fit, then it would have given a deeper reflection on faith. Overall Dominic shows his Christian like behaviour because he does not lose hope. Throughout the book there were many moments where he got frustrated but he controlled himself, like how a Christian should. If I would climb Everest I would be really scared and I
would ask God for help.


My Thoughts
I chose this book because the title sounded cool and the book was written by my favourite author, Gordon Korman. The book turned to be one of my favourites; in my opinion it’s the best
dventurous book out there. This book has an extensive amount of details and describes the characters thoughts really well. I personally not very fond of these type of adventurous books, but this one was really fun that I might read the whole trilogy. Reasons I like this book is because it has a really good story to teach which is having perseverance. There were lots of new words in
this book that I found helpful to add on to my vocabulary words list. I recommend this book for the type of people interested in adventure and survival books, this book stresses on the idea of having hope and not giving up.