Crispin: The Cross of Lead

The book I just finished reading is a really really really really really really really good book(with six million reallys). It is called....Crispin The Cross of Lead!

This book is a REALLY good book. (I just told you that. ) It is by an author named Avi (which real name is Edward Irving Mortis) which is an AWESOME author. This book won a newberry honor medal! That's how good it is! And you can get it in the book fair for FIVE DOLLARS! For a hardcover book! (I know I'm starting to sound like an advertiser, but this book is really really good! ) Any ways, this book is about a boy that is 13 years old. His mom just died. (his dad was dead already) (it's in the 1300s or something. ) He was accused of a crime he didn't commit. He is really poor. He doesn't have a name. Everyone calls him "Asta's Son" because his mother's name was Asta. Soooo... he has been declared a wolf's head (which is when he is declared not human anymore) so anyone can kill him, when ever they want to. If they kill him they get like 100000000 dollars as a reward. So they are anxious to kill him. And also, Father Quinel (a priest) told him that his real name was Crispin. And his mother left him a cross of lead with writing on it, but he can't read. I'm not going to tell you any more (the end is really exciting), so you have to read it yourself!

Crop Qv things...

How come the author goes by a pen name?

Why do they call it a "wolf's head" ?

Did they even have cheese at that time?

I like this book. (obviously, that's an opinion)

At the end, this book makes me think of someone finding out something they don't want to hear. (that's a hint of what happens at the end)

I can imagine how Crispin felt when he found out what it really said on the cross of lead: surprised and shocked.

I don't think it's fair that in that time, some people are so rich and some people are so poor.

I think that if there was another book, it would tell of Crispin going back to the place he was born.

The True Confessions of Charlotte Doyle

I finished reading The True Confessions of Charlotte Doyle by Avi. The book starts out like this: Charlotte (who lives in England) has to go to America to meet her siblings. Since there were no airplanes at that time, Charlotte has to go on a ship. Her father (who is pretty wealthy) has her to go on a cargo ship called the Seahawk with two other families. But then she finds out that the two other families aren't there when it's the day to board the ship and that she will be traveling to America for two months on her own, with nobody there except the crew and the captain, Captain Jaggery.

Captain Jaggery treats her nicely at first, offering her biscuits and other stuff. One of the crew members, Zachariah, try to tell her that the captain is evil. Of course, Charlotte doesn't believe Zachariah. Why should she, if the Captain is so nice to her? But then, Charlotte found out that the crew members are planning a mutiny against Captain Jaggery. She finds out when she is sent to fetch a needle. She finds a round robin which is a circle with a circle inside it with names. And a pistol. "Why?" she thinks. "Should I tell Captain Jaggery? Maybe I should......" she thinks, thinking about in in horror.

So, Charlotte tells the captain, which decides to put it to a stop. He decides to whip and torture Zachariah, just because he is old and black and weak. Charlotte can't bear looking at someone being tortured like that, so she (accidentally) grabs the whip from Mr. Holly-brass and whips Captain Jaggery.

The Captain is really mad at her, with gleaming eyes of hatred every time he looks at her. Charlotte decides to help the crew, but she managed to say she was going to join them. To join them, she has to climb up the mainmast, and we all know that there's at least a 75 percent chance that she would fall. Well what do you think happens (please don't give away the answer)

Here are my reactions and the other CROP-QV things in the book. In the Seahawk it said that Charlotte's hands turned brown and hard, like leather, because of all the hard work as a sailor. How does that really happen? And that reminds me of in the Twilight saga how vampires have really hard granite skin. In this book, since it happened in the 1800s, it has a lot of words that I don't know and it has swear words too :-P Also if you like mysteries and suspense, you'll probably like this book. Charlotte was accused of murder and she actually was brought to trial and found guilty.

Breaking Dawn

I read Breaking Dawn by Stephenie Meyer. What happens is that Edward (who is a vampire) marries Bella (who is not a vampire) and they go on their honeymoon to Isle Esme, which is Esme(Edward's mother)'s island. There Bella eats lots of eggs and she has strange dreams. She starts feeling really sick. Then, she finds out that she's pregnant and her baby is growing really, really fast inside her.







The next part of the book is told from Jacob (werewolf)'s point of view. Jacob visits Bella and finds out her stomach is puirple and bruised. And huge. Bella names her baby Edward Jacob if its a boy and Renesmee (Renee, Bella's mother and Esme together) if its a girl. Then her baby inside her starts breaking her ribs. Jacob suggests to make Bella drink blood because the baby is half Edward too. Bella does and she feels better but the baby obviously gets stronger. Carlisle (Edward's dad) says that vampire babies use their teeth to break open the thing that is holding them in their mother's body, and killing their mom in the process. But Bella loves the baby, and she isn't letting anyone take it out. Two weeks after she finds out she is pregnant, the baby (a girl)breaks its way out of her and would kill her but Edward injects his venom into Bella's heart, saving her and turning her into a vampire at the same time. Jacob imprints on Renesmee at the end because she looks so much like Bella with her brown eyes.












The next part is told from Bella's point of view again. She turns into a vampire and then she meets Renesmee. Renesmee has a gift, like Edward, Jasper, and Alice. Her gift is that she can touch your face and show you her thoughts. Irina spots Renesmee and thinks that she is a Immortal child. Immortal children are illegal because they don't know how to talk yet and they destroy everything. So humans find out about vampires. But Renesmee grows really fast, but not fast enough for Irina to see. Irina goes to the Volturi for them to destroy the Renesmee. Alice sees them coming and she warns everyone about them. All of the Volturi are coming to destroy Renesmee, even Aro, Caius, Marcus, and the wives. The Cullens get witnesses, people to support them, people to witness that Renesmee isn't an immortal child, that she grows really quickly. The Cullens' closest friends, the Denali vampires, they lost a mother because of she created an immortal child. Eleazar has a gift of knowing other people's gifts, and she tells Bella that she has a gift too. She can shield other people's mental attacks. For example, in the Volturi guard Jane can make you feel the worst pain ever inmaginable, but it's an illusion and nothing physical happens to you. Bella can block that. She can also project, which means to push the shield out and protect others. More witnesses come, like Maggie, Benjamin, Tia , Siobhan, Zafrina, Garett, and a bunch of others. After about a month, the Volturi come and they ask for information. They find out that Renesmee isn't an immortal child, that she grows and learns. Since Irina gave false information, they chop her up to pieces and burn her (the only way to kill a vampire) Her sisters, Kate and Tanya try to attack them (the Volturi) . Kate has a gift to shock people when they touch her, so she shocks everyone. Bella gets really mad, and when she gets really mad, her gift really works really well. So she can project her sheild for over 10 meters, which is a lot. Jane and Alec (jane's twin brother who can make people feel nothing) can't attack anyone who's on their side now. Since they are outnumbered (with Zafrina able to make them see illusions) now they quit. They leave (cowardly) and it ends happily ever after. By the way, Bella used to hate name Nessie for Renesmee but now she likes it at the end.


Why does Bella decide to turn into a vampire after she gives birth to Renesmee? There was a risk that Bella wouldn't survive and her heart would stop beating and you can't turn into a vampire if your heart stops because the venom can't travel through. And since Renesmee would have used her teeth to break out of Bella, why didn't Bella get scared and freak out???

I think the part about Jacob was really funny because Edward can hear people's thoughts so that part has really funny things. And Jacob is really funny. He is MUCH better than Edward because.

I felt really anxious when Bella was turing into a vampire because some people don't survive it. and she could have died if her heart stopped. It was weird when Bella was turning into a vampire and the book was very descriptive at that part.

The Valentine Star

I am reading The Valentine Star By Patricia Rielly Giff.This book is
about Emily who wants to make a special valentine card for Ms.Vincent
the new student teacher. Emily is more happier when Dawn Bosco, Emily`s friend
gives her some stars to decorate the valentine.But unfortunately
Ms. Rooney assigns Emily to be the moniter Emily on the other side dosen`t feel
right sittinging in the teachers desk
and telling her classmates what to do. So it went on as Ms.Rooney said until Sheri Dent ( Emily`s classmate) got up without Emily`s permission and got in trouble!! Thats when Sheri tells Emily " You will be sorry!!"
Read to find out what Sheri and Emily will do!
While I was reading some thoughts popped into my head , they are.........

1. Why was Emily the moniter?

2. I can understand how Emily feels when she is sitting in the teachers desk and felling like the teacher.

3. Did Emily ask for the stars that Dawn had or did Dawn just give it to her?

4. Did Emily`s classmates make fun of Emily for being the moniter?

5. I wonder what the author`s favorite part was?

6.I have a connection to the book "The City Of Ember" when Lisa wants to the messenger when Doon (Lisa`s Friend ) got the job.But Doon wanted To be the moniter but Lisa got that job.

Rama & Sita

I am reading Rama & Sita By:David Weitzman.
It is about Lord Rama and Sita ,his love.
Just after sundown,in villages all over Java and Bali, the night comes alive
with the shimmering metallic sounds of gamelan,an orchestraof songs,chimes,flutes,
drums,and cymbols. Families gather in front of a cloth screen lit from behind by flickering
lamp,eagerly awaiting the appearence of the magic puppets.
They have come to hear the ancient tale of Rama & Sita, a story of intrigue, adventure,mystery,
and the ageless stuggle of good or evil, retold for centuries throughout the asian world
by singers, storytellers,poets,dancers,and puppeteers.It is a story of brave prince Rama,
unjustly exiled and banished to the forest. With the help of
his brother and the monkey army, he rescues the beautiful Sita from a giant orge, and reaturns
victourious to regain his thorne.This book was based on a true story when Sita , Rama`s love was taken away from a giant orge named Ravana and Rama needs to rescue Sita so Rama tells
his trusted monkey Hunuman to do this Job.

CROP-QV`s

1. It is really freaky how giants were alive 1,000,000 years back

2.I wonder why Rama goes into the forset instead of seeing his Father first before he died?

3.Why did Laxmana ( Rama`s brother) not save Rama when he was in trouble ?

4.This reminds me of when I went to the temple and I saw a large statue of Rama.( Rama is Dead).

5.I wonder if If their is any other books about Rama & Sita?

FUN FACTS!
* Rama is a really powerfull lord
* People believe that if you pray to him your wish will be granted.
* Evil giants ruled the world 1,00000 years back
* 1,000000 years back, gods were alive!!!

*** I believe I could read more about Rama & Sita! :)

Double Identity

I read Double Identity by Margaret Peterson Haddix. The book is about a girl called Bethany. She gets sent to her aunt Myrlie, her mother's sister, even if she has never heard of her before. Anyways, Bethany has a lot of questions, like why her parents are older than other kids' parents, and why are they so overprotective? Then Bethany overhears her Aunt Myrlie talking to her parents on the phone and she heard, "She doesn't know about Elizabeth." Then she sees a videotape of Elizabeth which just looks like Bethany. She even has the same number of freckles as Bethany. Bethany pretends that she doesn't know about her so she doesn't talk about it. She finally asks her father and FINALLY Aunt Myrlie tells her. Bethany finds out that she is a clone of Elizabeth, her sister who died in a car accident. Elizabeth died in 1997 and was thirteen, so that's why her parents were older than others.







Some of my questions were why did Elizabeth's father clone her after she has died? An also Elizabeth hated swimming. How come Bethany was so good at it? Her parents expected her to drown and die. I think it is really weird how Bethany even likes the same foods as Elizabeth, like oatmeal with peaches and cream. But since Elizabeth died at thirteen years old, how come Bethany didn't die too when she was thirteen, since she was a clone of Elizabeth? And did Bethany remember the times that she was Elizabeth?

The Wide Window

Dear Fellow Students and Teachers,

I am read a book called the Wide Window which is the 3rd book in a Series of Unfortunate events but it is one of my favorite. It is by Lemony Snicket. Well of course that is not his real name but his pen name. It is about 3 orphans called Violet, Klaus, and Sunny whose parents have perished in a fire. Their parents left them a huge fortune but Count Olaf wants it VERY badly. The Baudelaires get sent to their scared Aunt Josephine which is scared of about everything. She lives on a cliff of Lake Lachrymose which has lachrymose leeches. The Leeches usually do not harm humans but when they smell food on humans then they attack. Aunt Josephine has a husband called Ike which got killed by the Lachrymose Leeches. He waited 45 minutes after eating instead of an hour. Anyways, now Josephine is scared of everything, from Lake Lachrymose to realtors. Count Olaf is very evil and sneaky, and he will do anything to get their fortune. This time Count Olaf dressed up as a guy called Captain Sham and he pretended he had a wooden leg. He fooled Aunt Josephine but not the Baudelaires, which notice everything. Count Olaf makes Josephine write a note telling that Captain Sham is their new parent, and made her jump out the window. Of course the Baudelaires noticed that Josephine was gone so they try to find her using the note she wrote. That's all I'll tell you now because this is my FAVORITE book and I wrote a lot already.

I had about a million questions, reactions, connections, opinions, predictions, and visualizations but I will probably just tell you three. First, how come all the Baudelaires' adopted parents tend to either die or are evil? Since they have to be raised by a relative, why would their relatives be evil? All the nice ones die (unfortunately) . I think that the Baudelaires feel really sad when they find a person they really like and then they see Count Olaf and they are just as dead as a doornail after 2 weeks. I know you are probably very bored because this is the longest reading response I have ever did, but there is just a little bit more. This book is not like any you've read before because it tells the story from the first person, not from Violet, Sunny, Klaus, or Count Olaf, but from the author, Lemony Snicket. You never notice it except in the beginning of all the chapters. You never have to look in a dictionary when you read this book and come to words you don't know because it tells you the meaning when it comes to a difficult word, like dowager. This book is the best book I've read and you should really read it too. FINALLY we're at the end!

From,


Cheese

(everyone calls me that for some reason so I guess I'll call myself that because it sounds nice)

Hurt go Happy

Dear Class,

I am reading Hurt go Happy by Ginny Rorby. It is about a deaf girl called Joey. Joey has red hair and a brother. She meets a chimp when she is picking mushrooms and has fun with her. I have not finished the book but so far it is pretty good. I like it when Sukari, the chimp, made Joey try to learn how to use sign language because she currently does not know how to use sign language. Joey can sort of lip read though. If you want to read something interesting, you really should read this book. I think joey feels really frustrated when she does not know what other people are saying. She only catches a few words so she has to kind of make out the other words. If I were Joey I would feel left out. I would be thankful that Sukari came.

Tuck Everlasting

I am reading a book called Tuck Everlasting by Natalie Babbit. It is about a girl called Winnie Foster that discovers a fountain on her family's property that makes you live forever, really. There are some people called the Tucks that accidentaly drank from the fountain and they never got older, not for a hundred years. They looked the same.

I wonder why the Tucks didn't leave the place they were and went exploring? That is what I would have done. If I could live forever I would try eating live snails because I know I wouldn't die if I got infected. Plus I would keep worms as a pet and feed them cheese. After I would deep fry them and eat them. And I would also dip cheese in egg and coat it with bread crumbs. Yum! I A connection I made was about another book I read with people that lived for 200 years.

Kid Power

I am reading a book called Kid Power and so far its a pretty good book. It is about a girl named Janie and her mother loses her job, so she sets up a business called Kid Power where she helps people run errands. She earns money and saves it to get a new bike.

I wonder why Janie's mother lost her job? It didn't really make sense. Also why does Janie's sister Carol bake cookies for Janie for free and then makes her pay ?