Alabama Moon

             Alabama Moon is by Watt Key, which is about a boy named Alabama Moon. He was born in the wild with his mom and dad. His mom died when he was a baby, so his dad ended up raising him and taught him how to read, write, trap, hunt, make medicine, and make his own clothes. One day Moon and his dad were checking traps when his dad was walking across a beaver dam when he slipped, fell and got his leg caught on the dam and broke his shin in two. While his dad lay there in pain, Moon went back to their shelter and got their wheel barrel to carry his dad in. When they got back to the shelter Moon cleaned his dad’s leg up and bandaged it up. His dad knew that it would get infected and didn’t want Moon to go get any help from the hospital. They just sat in their shelter until Moon’s dad died. Before his dad died he told him to go to Alaska where there were plenty people like them who hated the government.

         The theme for this book is that even though Alabama Moon is independent but he still can’t live without his friends.  In the book Alabama Moon says, ”I can get almost everything I need from the forest”(p.30). He does get everything he needs from the forest. He also is independent, “I could trap my own food and make my own clothes.” And “I could find my way by the stars and make fire in the rain” (p.1),  are quotes that  shows he is independent.  Towards the end of the book Alabama Moon says to Kit, “I’m not gonna go to Alaska. I don’t know what I’ll do, but I won’t live up there without any friends” (p.169), that shows that he can’t live without his friends. That’s why my theme is even though Alabama Moon is able to live completely on his own but he would rather be with his friends.

             

      I would recommend this book to other seventh graders who like books about living in the wild. My first reason is that it’s about some kids who are able to survive in the wilderness for a little bit and make their own things. They run away from a boy’s foster home, which is quite secured. My final reason is that if you’re someone who is an outdoorsman the book will really speak to you because it takes place outdoors and these kids really appreciate nature. Those are my reasons why I would recommend this book to other seventh graders.

        

I got the image from: http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/8/84/Alabama_Moon_novel.jpg

The Old Man & the Sea by Ernest Hemingway

                    

  The Old Man & the Sea is by Ernest Hemingway is about a man named Santiago in his late sixties who is a fisherman. He has not caught a single fish for eighty-four days. He has never gone that long without catching a single fish before. When goes out fishing he plans to go out farther than he normally does because he's hoping to catch a marlin. So one morning he gets up real early and heads down to the dock to put his twelve foot skiff into the water & head out to sail. He goes out in the little boat so that he can't see any land and he sets his hooks into the water, two for forty-fathoms and one for 300 fathoms. Later that day he catches a little tuna, so he brought it in the skiff & killed it with a club. A little while after that he saw a humongous marlin that jumped straight out of the water and dove back under the sea. He waited a little while longer and he wanted the big fish to jump again.

   The theme that I would choose for this book is, sometimes the unluckiest people can have some luck but then it goes away. One of my examples is Santiago hasn't caught any fish for eighty-four days,"He was an old man who fished alone in a skiff in the Gulf Stream and he had gone eighty-four days now without taking a fish."(pg.9) My second example is he sees a bird that helps him find the marlin,"Now the old man looked up and saw the bird was circling again."He's found fish."(pg.37) My third and final example is that Santiago was unable to get home with the fish whole,"Nothing,"He said aloud."I went out too far."(pg.120) That's why I think the theme is, sometimes the unluckiest people can have some luck but the it goes away.

  

  I would recommend this book to other seventh grade readers. One of the reasons why is because it's non-fiction. My second reason is it's kind of adventurous. The third and final reason is it's a good fishing story. That is why I would recommend this book to other seventh grade readers.

I got the image from:
http://animatie.blog.nl/files/2010/01/theoldmanandtheseaimage01.jpg

Making the All-Star Team

 

   It was a warm summer night of 2013. I was with my parents talking to my coach about who made the all-star team after the championship game in the regular season. We were in the parking lot of  Vilandre Field. I was on the Martin Enterprise team and we played H.P.M. We lost only by a couple of runs.

     We were talking about the game with my coach.

     My mom asked, "Do you know who made the all-star team?"

     Coach said,"Yes and Morgan you made the all-star team too."

     I said,"Yes!"

     My mom said,"This is awesome!"

     I replied,"I know, I've been waiting for a while to find out."

    Then I asked my coach,"Where will we be going?"

    He answered,"We will be going to Wrangle."

     I said,"We will be taking the ferry, right?"

    He said,"Yes."

    My mom said,"That sounds good, do you know when the practices
are?"

    Coach said,"They start in three days for the next two weeks and
there are two in one day, one is 1:30 hours then the other is 2:30 hours long."

    My mom said,"That sounds good."

     I said,"I think this is going to be fun!"

    Coach said,"In two days we will be having a team picture on
    Saturday at 9:00 A.M."

    My mom said,"Well then Morgan you're going to need to get to sleep pretty early on Friday."

     I said,"I know it's going to be kind of tough."
     I also said,"I'm going to need to get a few things ready for the trip."
    Then my coach said,"I hope you're happy and I will seed you in a couple of days."
     I said,"Thank you and have a nice night."
     In the car my mom said,"Oh my gosh Morgan this is exciting, I am so proud of you!"
    My dad said,"Good job this season, you deserved it!"
     I said,"Thanks guys I love you."
    My parents both said,"Good job making the team! You were great this season!"
   Right after we got home, I called my grandparents down in Chico,
California and told them that I made the All-Star team and they
said great job! We had practice six days a week for two weeks and
then we left for Wrangle on the ferry. When we got to Wrangle it
was about 1:00 A.M. so we went to bed, then we got up around 9:00 in the morning the same day, because we had opening
ceremonies. We were first in the round-robin and we beat Juneau
in the Championship game to bring home the banner. After a one
weeks rest, we got to play A.O.R.A.L.L.(Abbit O' Rabbit of
Anchorage Little League). They expected to win the first three
games. The first game we lost, the second game we won, the third
game we lost, the fourth game we lost and they got to go to
California. A.O.R. expected all the games to be really easy, but we
were more tough than they expected. One thing I learned was if
you try hard enough, you can always be successful for the goal you
set.

                          I got the image from
http://www.kcaw.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/07/LittleLeagueMajors_500.jpg

My Personal Legend

                                   My Personal Legend

My personal legend is to play sports. My earliest memories was when I was around the age of three and in third grade. My favorite sports would be baseball & basketball so how I would be able to play those sports would be good grades, get a scholarship to a good college, & then go to that good college. The challenges that I would face would be injuries, I could lose games that matter, I might not be on the team that I  would want to be on, & I might be fourth or fifth round pick. My personal legend is to play sports.




My earliest memories was when I was the age of three. When I first played baseball it made me feel good. I have been playing baseball for about nine years & every time I make a good play or someone else makes a good play it feels awesome! When I first played basketball I was in second grade. When I play basketball it makes me feel good because for full quart games you have to run down & back so you get a good exercise. That's my earliest memory.



How I'm going to be able to do those are good grades, get a scholarship to a good college, & then go to whatever good college it is. The types of colleges that would be for basketball is Notre Dame, Duke, Kansas University, Oklahoma State, Seattle University, & LSU. For baseball colleges they would be North Carolina, Oklahoma State, Mississippi State, LSU, & Stanford. I think that Duke would be the hardest college to get into. That's how I'm going to get there.


The challenges I would face. They could be injuries & I could get minor injuries or I could get big injuries that could keep me out of the season for a couple months or the whole year. I might not be on the team that I would like to be on. Then I could be fourth of fifth round pick or I might not even get picked that year. Those are the challenges I will face.


My personal legend is to play sports. My earliest memory was when I was around the age of three & third grade. My favorite sports would be baseball & basketball so how I would be able to play those sports would be good grades, get a scholarship to a good college, & then go to that good college. The challenges that I would face would be injuries, I could lose games that matter, I might not be on the team I would want to be on, & I might be fourth or fifth round pick.  That's why my personal legend is to play sports.




I got the image from:

http://image.shutterstock.com/display_pic_with_logo/940951/109322777/stock-photo-concept-of-basketball-ball-baseball-on-a-white-background-d-109322777.jpg

Legend by Marie Lu

           
Legend, by Marie Lu, is about a girl named June and a boy named Day and they're both fifteen. They each have a different story to tell, but near the end of the book they both are fighting for each other's life. Day a sneaky criminal, is wanted by the Republic for assault, burned fighter jets engines, theft, destruction of Military property and trying to stop the war that is going on. He is wanted for 200,000 notes(money in the book). He does many things to the government, he always does his breaking in and robberies at night and he never kills anyone. June, a student at Drake University, is quite a trouble maker, but she still gets a perfect score, or perfect grades. Later, she becomes a detective and she inspects a crime scene to realize that she is looking at her nineteen year old brother Metias who is dead. She thinks that Day killed him because Day did a hospital break in but didn't get captured. At the end of the book Day gets captured so, June has to check up on him every once an a while. So, they have conversations then June gets a little guilty and she thinks of some ways to help him escape from the Republic. June plans to free him on his execution date when he is about to go out to the firing squad. She maid a deal with the the Patriots and she gave them the 200,000 notes she got for capturing Day also with an electro-bomb. They agreed so, the day of the execution date they would set of the electro-bomb and hold of the Republic solders. But, the Republic had the execution date one day earlier so June thought that the Patriots wouldn't show up. The Patriots did so day escaped and went into hiding but, while they were running to the exit they didn't have enough time because the guns would be able to shoot so, Day's brother John also escaped and he went to hold the Republic solders of to give Day and June enough time. John got executed instead but, the Republic thought he was Day and on the jumbo-trons it said that Day got executed.



I think that the main theme of Legend would be "don't give up." A few reasons why is when Day's little brother Eden had the plague disease he tried to get different medicines to keep Eden feeling well until he had enough notes (money) to get some plague cures. Also, later on in the book June tried to find imformation to see if Day really did kill Metias and if the Republic purposely spread the plague disease to poor sectors. Last, is at the end of the book Day and June form an alliance and keep trying to escape from the Republic and his execution date. That's why I think "don't give up" is the theme for this book.


I would recommend this book to other seventh graders who likes action, some romance, and that also likes to read series of books. There is a sequel and at the end of this book there is the the first thirteen pages of it. The name of the second book in this series is Prodigy. There is a third book in the series named Champion, but it doesn't come until November 5, 2013. You should think about reading Legend for your second book review if you haven't already.

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/2/27/Legend_Marie_Lu_Book_cover.jpg

Perfect Paragraph Practice

I think Calvin Johnson is the best wide receiver in the NFL. The reason why is because he is 6' 8'' and it gives him an advantage to catch some tough passes. His nickname is Megatron, I think it's because he's tall and pretty fast. The football team he is on is the Detroit Lions which is my favorite team. I think Calvin Johnson is the best wide receiver in the NFL because his height gives an advantage.