“Night” Blog Journal Entries

May 31, 2013

Language Arts

“Night” Journal Entry 4

            Elie Wiesel writes “Night” in a very “controlled” way. This is such a serious topic and very out of control. The whole concept that thousands of Jewish people were being killed every day and in the long run 6 million died is very hard to grasp. Many people think why did this happen? Didn’t people see Hitler’s plans? The pictures online and the description that is told in the book are horrifying and sad. How could babies be used as throwing targets? Didn’t anyone feel guilty killing the Jewish people? Wiesel writes his book so people can grasp it all in and not lose it.

            I think the main reason why readers who read “Night” can understand the topic is because it is told through a boy named Eliezer’s life. We can connect to the character because it talks about his insights and religion and life. For me, instead of getting all the facts and seeing pictures of the Holocaust, it’s easier if I have a real life story that tells about the topic. I really like how “Night” starts off with the very day life of a Jewish boy who is clueless about what is happening to Jews in Europe and when he is warned because he has so much faith like everyone else they don’t believe Moshe the Beadle. I know that I have seen this in movies and in life. Like when someone is told that a loved one is dead they refuse to hear it and try to find their loved one. In the end when you find out they are dead you lose faith. That is exactly what a writer should do; bring the reader to a point where they can make their own opinions and insights. Many Jewish people felt the same way as someone who just lost a loved one, but theirs is more serious because they lost God. Why had God abandoned them? Eliezer talks about how he used to be very faithful and always strived to be the best at his religion, but even he slowly turns away because of all the events that happen in Auschwitz. See I can connect to that and question all the events that have happened because of the Holocaust. It’s special and honorable to be able to read a real life story about Auschwitz that Elie Wiesel wrote. In a way it’s like I am connected to Wiesel because he has written a story so everyone knows about what happened in his life. It was written for me. It was written for you. It was written for all who come across this magnificent book.

            This book has definitely changed my life because like I said in my letter to Mr. Wiesel I used to be immature and not think about what I said. The jokes I laughed at were funny at the time. They wouldn’t hurt anybody. I have come to learn that two single words in the joke, Holocaust and Jew, have a whole history behind it. The jokes hurt people and I am sad to even have been part of the laughing. I am so grateful that I learned about this topic. Whenever I see the perfect night sky with a spectacle of brilliant stars I will look back I will think of the millions lost and say, “It’s no longer night, because you have learned to make your night a bright day.”

Journal Entry 3 Elie Wiesel Letter

May 29, 2013

Dear Elie Wiesel,

            I want to start out by telling you how much I appreciate what you have taught me by writing “Night.” It has touched my heart and during this reading it brought forth some mature discussions that were thought about thoroughly in my eighth grade class.  The holocaust is an important part of history that kids should be made aware of because in the long run it could prevent this tragedy from never happening again. You really paint the picture of what it was like to be a Jewish person experiencing these horrors while in Auschwitz.

            Before I read this book I would her all kind of jokes about the holocaust and the scary part was that I wasn’t well informed about this time in history that I would actually laugh at the jokes. I’ve matured over the years and it has been a life lesson learning about the holocaust. Seeing the videos and pictures almost brings me to tears. How could this have happened? How did it go on for about five years? These are the questions I ponder about while reading all sorts of stories about the holocaust. I look at the kid at the beginning without knowledge and think how could I have been so clueless? But I am happier than before because I know now that I will always think before I say or act about a topic I don’t know about.

            Compared to what has happened in Auschwitz I have never seen violence near as bad. I’ve seen the occasional punching, but never have I seen people getting shot, people getting thrown in fire, or young children getting killed in terrible ways. To me it seems like I would lose all faith forever. Was their ever a time where you directed your anger toward the Nazis? Well, I can’t know for sure because I wasn’t in your shoes, but I tend to blame the people who are doing the physical things to me. Did you believe in God as your savior? How had you made a collection with God like he was your friend? A living person.

            It’s funny how I complain about being cold outside in a tent when I should really be thinking about how lucky I am. It was very surprising to hear how bad the treatment was in Auschwitz. You talk about how the camp has changed you. You would normally fight someone if they were beating up your dad. In a way the camp took away courage and faith. Did you ever have moments when you just felt like fighting your way out of the camp? Were there such groups that brained stormed ways to start a resistance? Is there a reason why they didn’t get far if there was? Did you ever look up at the stars and get a spark of hope that someday you will be reunited with your mom and get a sense of love? Thank you again for writing this book. It really touched my heart. I will never forget your story.

May 22, 2013

Language Arts

“Night” Journal Entry

“Never shall I forget that night, the first night in camp, that turned my life into one long night seven times sealed.

Never shall I forget that smoke.

Never shall I forget the small faces of the children whose bodies I saw transformed into smoke under a silent sky.

Never shall I forget those flames that consumed my faith forever.

Never shall I forget nocturnal silence that deprived me for all eternity of the desire to live.

Never shall I forget those moments that murdered my God and my soul and turned my dreams to ashes.

Never shall I forget those things, even were I condemned to live as long as God Himself.

Never.” (Pg. 34)

            Never, never shall I forget sounds like an eternity to have this weight on your shoulder. To have to remember flames. To have to remember screams. To have to remember having an empty stomach. To remember when you lost hope. And above all remembering a place with no love. Night seems to wrap all this horror together. People in Auschwitz, for most remained in terror never to see the crack of dawn, daytime when camps were liberated. As soon as you get onto the train all light is consumed by darkness, cramped into a cattle cart like cattle themselves. About eighty people in an area so small people are breathing down your back. Night symbolizes dread and loss of hope without any light.

            “Jews look! Look at the fire! Look at the flames! As the train stopped, this time we saw flames rising from a tall chimney into a black sky…We stared at the flames in the darkness. A wretched stench floated in the air. Abruptly, our doors opened.” (Pg. 28) The irony Jews experienced when they first saw the entrance of Auschwitz must have been terrible. This is where all hope and faith was lost knowing that they were in for a long terrible journey. A journey that turns the rest of your days, “into one long night.” I find it very cruel how the first words that are spoken to you are, “Men to the left! Women to the right.” The suspense must make people crazy with questions. Why are we being separated? Will I ever see my family again? Will I die? To make matters a man with dirty hands points at you and selects you. Two groups are made walking toward the crematorium, but at the last second one group turns. The humanity if you see that you are not the one that has turned. I really wonder what people were thinking if they were in the lines that weren’t so lucky. To be the group who turned and looking upon the faces that were not so lucky must have made people so guilty with the one question in their mind. The question that many survivors ask themselves today. Two simple words, “Why me?” Elie Wiesel asks himself these same questions. Even though I was not there I even question why these certain people lived what about them allowed them to stay alive? It’s not that you were the strongest if you survived or that you were the luckiest. You survived for a reason and that was to tell your story to the world, so the world knows never to repeat this part of history ever again. I am very fortunate that I never lived in such a time that my family or I could be in danger due to the way we look or the way we believe.

            The way Auschwitz shaped people is something Eliezer experienced and questioned himself. The lost of hope and what you stood for. All the running, yelling, and beating made Jews worn out and scared to question the way things ran. Its way the first time Eliezer’s dad got beat up he just stood there in shock. “I stood petrified. What had happened to me? My father had just been struck, in front of me, and I had not even blinked. I had watched and kept silent. Only yesterday, I would have dug my nails into this criminal’s flesh. Had I changed that much.” (Pg. 39) What Jews experienced and saw on the first day crushed their spirits and courage. Any inequality would now become life because people feared being killed or worse tortured beyond belief. I am very shocked that even a group that was being executed and worked to death could still keep hope even when they lost it somehow they were able to gain it back. Beat and starved to death I would crumble under the pain that was caused. I really liked reading how when the camp was being bombed people gained hope and confidence back.

            Why did the prisoners yell at the new comers? Did they know that the new comers didn’t know about the fate that await the? Was it an act, so they could save people from being killed? Like when an inmate told Eliezer and his dad that they were now eighteen and forty. Has anyone ever escaped the camp and if so did they tell about the camp?

            It’s hard to come to realize how big this event in our history was and how no one saw it happen for five years.

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April 25, 2013 "Anne Frank"/Reflection on Holocaust

April 25, 2013 "Anne Frank"/Reflection on Holocaust

     So far in reading "Anne Frank Life In Hiding" I've learned more about what kind of person Anne was. She was a smart intelligent girl in school that was loved by many. But she loved to be a clown in class. It got to a point where she had to right two writing compositions for her math teacher. "It was her special assignment." She had to write one about "a chatterbox," and a second about, "Incurable Chatterbox." Both of them were stellar in writing. She yet again spoke out a third time and this time her class mate had volunteered to write about "Quack, quack, quack says Mrs. Natterbreak." Her thirteenth birthday was on June 12, 1942. She received a red and white checkered diary that she named "Kitty" and often wrote about her thoughts during hiding and about the war around her. To keep her room interesting she would put pictures on the wall that interested her like famous actors and singers.
     Every day I learn new things about the holocaust and Anne Frank. When Margot, Annes sister, got a summon from the Germans her family moved to a secret annex in Amsterdam. On a day when bombers were in the air their intentions were to bomb the Fokker aircraft factory, but the bombs fell on a residential area killing 175 people. Near where the secret annex where the Franks were hiding. I thought it was cool how Anne Frank would "run up the stairs a couple of times making sure to fall once so you can barely hear the gunfire yet along worry about them." All the people in the annex were arrested and taken off to concentration camps. Sadly all of them died except for Otto, Anne's Father. It was very sad to hear how people are just put into concentration camps. People were sometimes categorized into two groups elderly and kids and then strong adults. The weak meaning the kids and elderly would go to take "showers" where they where gassed and killed. I learned that The Jewish adults would go to work. It's amazing how much you can learn about the holocaust.

Anne Franks Family                                                  
       Secret Annex Layout

     When Anne Frank's family finds out about Margots call-up from the S.S. they go into hiding into a secret annex along with four other people. Mr. and Mrs.Van Dan, Peter van Dan, and Albert Dussel. Anne thinks that having other people will keep her motivated, but shortly after Anne begins to get bored and get agitated by people who question her behavior. The days in the annex are quiet and boring because all the divers have to make sure they don't make loud noises or employees of the spice business might call up the German Cops for money. They would all be arrested. They can't go outside and the windows have to be darkened so no one will see them in hiding. Nights are spent more freeliy, but ears are always open incase cops come to check out the building or if a burglery happens.
On June 6, 1944 D-day, Allied forces start to take over the Germans territory. "But hope is revived within us...Oh, Kitty, the best part of the invasion is that I have the feeling that friends are approaching...that peace and tranquility aill return again."(Pg.34) Nearly after two years on Friday, August 4, 1944 the Gestapos are at the secret bookcase and arresting the hidden Jews. Out of the eight only Otto Anne's dad survives. He goes on to publish Anne's Diary which is translated to fifty languages and 18 million copies get sold.
I feel that from the reading of Anne's story we continue to look back and think of the horror so we will never repeat it again. It was a time that was put on paper by a brave and wise girl. The facts I new from the begining of the project were very minamle, but since then I have grown to learn way more about the Holocaust and all the lives that are honored for keeping us in the loop about this terrible time.

Book Talk: Uprising by Margaret Peterson Haddix

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Book Trailer: To Kill a Mockingbird

Book Trailer: Matched

Playground Reader Response Entry

pLAygROUND

     Playground by 50 Cent is the new book I have enrolled on as my fourth book report book. This book is written by 50 Cent who is a world known rapper. I am looking forward to read about his insights of bullying and how his experiences contributed to the making of this book. The main reason I want to read this book is because it’s in the view of a bully and you get to learn how they got to this stage of their life and how they can change. How does a bully become a bully? 

     “She shifted in her seat, and I look around the room again. I couldn’t believe how depressing her office was. It was a small room on the second floor of a strip of a mall, above a dry cleaners, and one store front over from a Popeyes. The whole place stank like week-old fried chicken, and I was supposed to take this skinny white woman seriously.” (Pg.1) The story starts out with a combination of two leads. Butterball is talking to his therapist about why he’s there and what’s going on in his life. He reflects upon the office and how messed it is and how the smell of a restaurant can throw off his concentration. Through the dialogue and reflection 50 Cent incorporates Butterball’s behaviors and characteristics. 

     “Listen, lady, I’m sure you mean well, but let’s you and me get one thing straight now. I’m here because if I get expelled from school, I’ll have to sit around my mom’s apartment…..So….ease off.” (Pg. 2) This dialogue that Butterball is saying to his therapist helps me to gain knowledge on the main character that he’s a bully/gangster who talks smack and is very disrespectful. I think this was the goal of 50 Cent to pull in the reader by starting off strong and to the point. My first prediction is that Butterball will beat up this kid who is moving in on the girl he likes, but Nia has already seen her fair share of butterball beating up a kid with a sock filled with batteries, so she’s still very scared. My second prediction is that Butterball will change his ways after he realizes an action he committed hurts the people he cares about.

       This story takes place in a modern society in a suburb, Long Island. I can relate to many things in Butterballs life. Like going to the movies or seeing girls in corners giggle as the boys play basketball. The story mostly consists of butterball going to the therapist in a small depressing office with a crooked picture of a sail boat. Also he spends days like a modern kid going to a school with segregated cafeteria tables and then going home. He has a messy home which he doesn’t like because his mom always asks him to clean his room. Like I said I am a kid about the same age as Butterball so I live a modern life like he does, but the only thing I haven’t experience is major bullying to a level where people fight. I don’t want to experience bullying, but I think I need to get into reality because I will be attending a school with ten times more kids than Barnard School. Hopefully I will not be affected by bullying. . Butterball is the main character in Playground which as a reader you experience his life through how he sees it. This story is told in 1^st person point of view because the author uses the pronoun “I.” The narrator being butterball is limited because you only know what is going on within his mind and what he’s feeling. I think the author wrote this story in 1^st person because he wanted the reader to know how directly Butterballs life is going. For example, how is the bullying effecting his life, how did it start, and how will butterball make a change. In a way I think this is good because I want to know what goes on in the mind of a bully and how they act, but it would also be interesting if it was omniscient and we knew what other characters think about Butterball and how they contribute to how Butterball is right now, a bully. 

      The main protagonist in pLAygROUND is butterball. Butterball, a bully that is known for beating up a kid Maurice with a sock filled with batteries. He a bully and that’s that no question needed. “I wacked Maurice right across that self-satisfied grin of his, and I pounded those batteries into his teeth over and over until I felt something come loose.” (Pg. 12) Why is he a bully? Well, the book doesn’t tell you but you can infer that he has become a bully due to his parents’ divorce and having to ride the train from one side of town to the other. Butterball mostly spends his time with his mom and every other week he gets to visit his dad. Every minute spent with his dad he cherishes. His mom is trying to do full time a St. Vincent’s Hospital so she’s never home. Butterball says to his therapist that he’s better off if his mom and him stayed away from each other and do their own thing. I feel like this contributes to Butterball being a bully because he doesn’t have a well built relationship with his mother. There are two antagonist that have had a big impact in the book. The first is Terrence Jackson. He’s a kid from a different school who is planning to go to a party where Nia will be andmake a move on her. Big mistake. Butterball has liked her since she first laid eyes on him because on his first day of school she was the only one who smiled at him. At the party Butterball is planning to show Nia who is the bigger man by showing Terrance whose boss. The Second, antagonist is Butterball. Being a bully has not yet clicked with him that it can be hurtful and draw people you like farther away from you. He has to learn to move beyond that and be known as“Hey, Butterball” not “Hhhiiii, Buuutterbbball.” I think he is starting to see the light because he admits that the therapist he works with who he hated at first is “alright.” Also he is showing her respect because he used to just call her lady, but now calls her Liz. It’s a small step, but every step counts. The main Character is Butterball. He is a short dark colored skinned boy who is a little on the heavy side. Butterball is rude and disrespectful. Heck he doesn’t care whether he calls people names or hurts them. The dialogue above about Butterball beating up Maurice shows how cruel he can be. Butterball loves to see people get revenge and just continues to hit the boy as people cheer. 
     “Hey , Nia, that thing you saw?” I said. “It wasn’t what you thought. I mean, Maurice and me, we had a private score to settle, that’s all. He got only what was coming to him, know what I mean?” (Pg. 57) This dialogue might seem that Butterball is still in the wrong mind, but he’s trying to apologize to Nia and what he did. It’s not good what he did, but I think this shows a new side to Butterball that he can make a change and be a person people will like. 

     A minor character in pLAygROUND is Butterball's therapist Liz. Butterball might not like going to see her because it’s a waste of time and her office reaks of fried chicken. But she is helping him to realize what is going on in his life like about his parents divorce and how he feels about it. By liz talking and asking questions to Butterball it really opens butterball's eyes and what he can do better to turn his life around. I think further in the book having talked to Liz will make Butterball a nice kid who will have everyone saying "hi," to him.      The primary conflict in pLAygROUND would have to be Person v Person because the problem is happening within Butterball. Butterball is a bully and it affects his relationships with his family and friends. He swears to his therapist and mom which really gets his mom upset. He beats kids up. Underneath his troubles there’s hope for him. But one problem, his dad and friends. They are the reason why he can’t see the potential of being a really good kid that everyone likes. His friends egg him on to do bad acts like telling Butterball to beat up a kid who is moving in on his girl. “Here’s the thing man,” my dad was saying. “It’s cool what you did, you know? A man has his reasons and I respect that. In fact, I was kind of proud of you when she told me-maybe you’re not such a worthless fata#% after all, you know? But there’s just one problem, my brother, and it’s a big one…You shouldn’t have gotten caught, Butterball, man. I mean what were you thinking?” (Pg. 100) His dad is referring to Butterball beating up Maurice. His dad is actually saying it was cool, but you can’t get caught. Also his dad later on tells him that if you take control then you get what you want. It’s his dad telling him what he is doing is ok. So butterball thinks his actions can continue without consequences. But it’s hurting people he loves. This is what I think Butterball needs to see or else it might end up ruining his life. 

      “So yeah,” Nia was still talking obliviously on, “I had a little favor to ask you. It sounds kind of weird, but, well, I’d just be real grateful if I mean, if you’re not coming-and you are coming, I hope?-could you, like, help me keep an eye on stuff? Make sure nothing gets to out of hand, know what I mean?” I came to a complete stop again, before we finished crossing the street. I was trying to process what exactly Nia was asking of me. She hoped I was coming to the party tomorrow night? Had she really just said that?” I think this will be the turning point in Butterball’s life. He really likes Nia. She’s like the anchor that holds him back from his bad ways. Sadly I think Butterball will lose her trust at the party and realize that his life stinks having the girl he likes hates him. But it could also go well and Nia starts to hang out with him more because he helped contain things at the party. Knowing that Butterball can change his ways keeps you on the edge of your seat as you read. Butterball has to decide will he carry out the promise he made with Nia or will he mess it up and blow out the light of the potential he has. 

     There’re two major themes in the book pLAygROUND. The first one I am brought to that is probably the most important one and like Slam has changed me. I have learned a lesson that people can change. You might think someone is mean or stupid, but somewhere in their hearts there’s a plant waiting to blossom. People have problems that you don’t know about, so to judge someone by the first impression they give you that you don’t like can be wrong sometimes. Next time you look at someone with disgust or hatred just think maybe they have problems that are affecting their actions. Butterball experiences the theme of “Coming of Age/Loss of Innocence.” We all hold on to something from when we were little, but sometimes holding these things can break us. Sometimes we just have to let them go. Butterball starts out as a ruthless bully that no one would dare cross, especially after the sock and Maurice incident. This is what Butterball has known mostly all his life, to be a bully. Bullying masks the pain of reality. When Butterball enrolls in therapy he doesn’t think that he needs help. Why should he tell a skinny white lady his problems? I guess being overweight and having parents that have divorced really has had a negative impact on Butterball’s life. Even a bad bully like Butterball can see the light. When he goes to the party at Nia’s aunt’s house he goes up to Terrance. He is about to hit Terrance for what he sees is no good reason. But Terrance is too fast and punches Butterball to the ground. He pees his pants and gets punched many times. Butterball from that day realizes is this what I have been doing with my life? Why would I do these things to other people? This is what he talks about to his therapist Liz near the end of the book. Liz brings up the topic of Butterball attending a charter school. He really likes the idea of being able to show his talent by making and showing his movies. Movies are what help Butterball at the end of the book to realize who he really is. He has rised, fallen, and once again risen from the ashes. Butterball is now a new person and has a lot to do before attending school where he can pursue his passion. No more bullying, but seeing the good aspects of life through film making. Butterball also experiences “Stranger in a Strange Land or Alienation” because he was brought to Garden City, Long Island when the school season already started. He had no friends coming to this school and people just looked at his weight and laughed giving him the name Butterball. Throughout the story it seems that there’ll be no hope for him, but then Butterball notices that bullying a lure that will hook you in a bad way, almost like you see your life before you. His name is not Butterball; his name is Burton the kid who decided to make a change.  

I would rate this book a ten. I just love when authors can teach me something throughout the stories they write that can change a reader. It’s amazing how 50 Cent can put time into a book with his rapping carrier. The ending could not have been better Burton realizes that there’s more to life than his life style. And he gets into a school that he thinks will change his life. It’s more to that than just getting in the fact that he put in effort by making a movie and filling out the work sheet shows how much he wants to change his life. Does Butterball grow up to being a famous movie maker? Does he go back to his bulling life in High school? I would definitely recommend this book to anyone because it has the power to touch anyone’s heart and tell them is your life heading in the right direction right now. Can you change as a person? I want to read 50^th Law by 50 Cent. It will be interesting to see how he writes this book and what it is about. Hopefully this will help me to see something that will make me a better person.

Quiet Place Poem

Quiet Place Poem

Quiet Place

Your bedroom could be your quiet place.....

You could be in your bedroom,
where the blue walls feel like the beautiful sky,
and on the floor is scattered clothes
like a mountain of pillows.
Papers sprawled over a desk.
A binder falls to the floor but not making a sound 
as the binder hits the rug.
Warm and fuzzy blankets,
cover the soft bed.
And you could be a cat curled up
in the warm blankets under the sunlight.
A bedroom could be your quiet place


But if your bedroom is too distracting.......

Personal Narrative: Moby and My Thanksgiving Secret

Moby and My Thanksgiving Secret

My eyes scanned the food table and came to a stop when I got a slight whiff of freshly made cookies. My nostrils flared and my hand was drawn to the plate of cookies. “Wait a minute sweetie. I don’t think you should ruin your appetite by filling up on sweets,” my grandma said gently. “They look so yummy though,” I whimpered. The hand withdrew from the plate, but I still hungered for the cookies. It was Thanksgiving day and my mom’s side of the family had come over to enjoy a day of eating turkey. My parents prepared a banquet fit for a king with a plump turkey, rich smooth potatoes, stuffing, gravy, freshly made bread and salad. But they also had my two enemies: chunky cranberry sauce and squishy, mushy squash. You know the kind that’s radiant orange, which you mash like potatoes. I was too young to make my own plate so my mom put a little of everything on my dinner plate. The table that I sat at with my two grand parents, five uncles and aunts, and ten cousins was long and made out of oak. My little body was perched in the chair as I swung my feet back and forth impatiently. My mom’s side of the family is the kind that like to dilly dally saying “Wait! I forgot this or let me make this,” which by the way makes us late for everything. We finally gathered at the table. As my family said grace my mind was trying to comprehend and keep up with all the possibilities of what I would eat first, but mainly I was thinking about how I wanted to devour all the food on my plate, so I could get to the dessert. I went into a feeding frenzy. My teeth sunk into the bread slathered with melted butter. With my other hand I stuffed my mouth with turkey and mashed potatoes. Before I knew it my plate was polished with not a morsel left or so I thought. Everyone was clearing up and leaving the dining room, but my dad told me to stay. I said “Why?” He replied, “look at your plate you're not finished.” “But. I don’t want to! Mom pleease, no I’ll do anything.” “Come on sweety eat all your food and then you can have all the desserts you want.” Why. Why. Why. I’m always left with the short end of the rope. Me versus my two full grown parents. No way were my parents giving up. They were pulling the rope and I was being dragged along for the journey. I guess they want to teach me to eat what’s out of my comfort zone, but I for one hated it. Dad left and shut both doors leaving me abandoned and alone. My face turned green and I froze like a statue. Right in front of me was my dinner plate half filled with a glob of squash and cranberry sauce. I started to cry. My mouth was trembling and I could barely talk to myself. “Hhooww am I going to eat all of that.” I’d rather die. I picked up my fork which was clenched and shaking in my hand and put some squash on it. The squash reached my mouth and I gagged as it hit my tongue. It did not reach my throat. Instead it splattered all over the table and my plate. I grabbed my milk and and chugged it. The only way to have dessert was to finish dinner and no way was I going to miss out on vanilla ice cream and cookies. The gears in my head started to speed up, trying to concoct a plan. I could try eating this mess with milk. No, that plan already failed. My eyes scoped the room, but nothing came to my mind. Wait, I got it! I could spread my food under this oriental rug. No, I’m not that mean either, I’ve already tormented this rug when I used to dump orange juice on it. I got nothing. I was a trapped animal surrounded by predators with no escape route. But then I saw something right by my side I hadn’t noticed. It was Moby, my dog. Relief washed over me. My face turned into a sour grin like the grinch when he got a plan to ruin Christmas. My hand took my fork and brushed the food on the rug for my dog to feast on. My worst nightmare just transformed into my dog’s treasured trophy. It was like I was connected to my dog using telepathy hearing him go “mmmm mm.” He was gobbling up the gross mush as I gazed with amusement. When he was finished he even licked the rug repeatedly so not a single scrap was left behind. How’s that for a turn of events? The prey just syked out the predator. I left the room petting my dog. Saying, “this will be our little secret.”

The Girl That Could Fly Reader Response Entry

The Girl That Could Fly

My book is "The Girl The Could Fly" by Victoria Forester. I chose this book because my mom gave it to me and said I should try to read it. So I put it in the book case in my room. Then one day my friend was over and looking at the books in my room, and saw this one and read the back of it and said it sounded good. I thought I wasn't going to like it before I started to read it. The lead is like an action and a reaction mixed together, because it tells you what is going to happen but then makes it sound like it was being reflected. (Piper decided to jump off the roof. It wasn't a rash decision on her part. This was her plan-climb to the top of the roof , pick up speed by running from one end all the way to the other. Jump off. Pg. 1) I think that the author chose to start with this because it makes you think, Is she really going to jump off the roof? What if she does and hits the ground? It makes you think of questions and makes you want to read more to find out if she jumps or not. If she gets hurt or not. To predictions that I will make about this book is that Piper will learn how to stay up in the air and not fall as fast as she does. Also that her parents are not going to let her leave the house because they think that people will see her flying.

      This book takes place in Lowland County, a small town that is smaller than South Hampton. Everybody knows everybody. Everybody lives on a farm with tons of fields and farm animals. These people had many fields but they wouldn't call it a farm. It's a house with a barn.  This book takes place in the past like many years ago. I know because these people don't had cell phones, and televisions. I have never been to a place like this. I don't know if I would want to go to a place like this. I wouldn't because for so reason I feel like I would be lost. (Piper lived with her ma and pa on a farm. It wasn't much of a farm to be sure, just an old clapboard house and a bank barn that leaned dangerously to the left. Pg. 1)( Swooping over summer crops in the fields of corn, wheat, oats, and barley, she dipped down low and picked stalks as she past. Pg.24) I chose these two pages because it told about her house and the fields. I thought that these were good ways to tell about Lowland County. I though that Piper would be telling the story but I thought wrong. It's a third person point of view. This narrator is a limited narrator. The narrator knows and tells what Piper is thinking. So you don't really know what Piper's ma Betty and Piper's pa Joe are thinking. The only way to tell is when they  talk. Some times you know what Betty is thinking but never Joe. I think that it was a good choice to chose third person because then you aren't just hearing mainly what Piper is thinking.

      The protagonists in my book is Piper McCloud. There isn't really an antagonist in my book but, Betty McCloud might be an antagonist because she won't let Piper fly. Betty McCloud is Piper McCloud's mother. Betty is an uptight mother that believes that everything is planned and things shouldn't be different. Betty home schools Piper because Piper is different than other kids. Piper is able to fly and has never met another kid. You can tell that Piper is very daring because of her actions. She jumped off the roof to see if she could fly. Her mother on the other hand is uptight and was very mad that Piper jumped off the roof, but any mother would be. Betty wasn't happy that Piper was able to fly, she was very mad that she was different than every other kid. (Page 14-17 is where Piper jumped off the roof and page 19-20 is where Betty is mad at Piper for jumping off the roof.)  One minor character in this book is Joe McCloud. I know that he is Piper's dad but he doesn't talk, and he didn't seem to care that Piper jumped off the roof.

      The conflict in my book is an external conflict, also it is a person vs. society because the people of Lowland County don't except the fact that Piper is different and can fly. Nobody wants to talk to Piper of play with Piper. They keep their distance and Piper isn't allowed to go to school or leave the farm. One time her family goes to a picnic for the church and everybody saw her fly and didn't want their kids to go near her.

      Piper was playing baseball with some kids and started flying. Everybody was terrified that she was flying. Her parents were embarrassed and sat there with their heads down. Every kid was shocked but Piper was happy that she showed them what she could do. She caught the ball so that their was an out, but everybody grabbed their kids and left."Parents blank stares quickly turned into concern and soon they were grabbing their children and making a dash away from Piper." (Pgs. 45-47) I chose this passage because it shows that Piper doesn't have an easy life. This is when people refuse to loo of talk to Piper. That is hard for a young child. This doesn't change Piper in anyway because she is still going to fly. She learned that she needs to be careful with what she does. She hasn't made a major decision about flying . She still wants to fly and isn't going to let this stop her from do so.