Hey

Article posted September 20, 2006 at 01:31 AM GMT0 • Reads 55

I am just trying to post something.

Homecoming Project

Article posted September 20, 2006 at 10:17 PM GMT0 • Reads 32

Homecoming Book Reviewer Project

Vivek Dakoriya C-4 9/19/06



I recommend this book, Homecoming, for summer reading. I think that this book always keeps you reading. You feel like you don’t want to stop because there are so many good parts. You feel like you want to keep going and find out what is going to happen next. In the story, Dicey is trying to get to her great aunt’s house. I felt like I didn’t want to stop reading and see where they would stay next or what they would eat next. The book keeps you guessing from the beginning to the end of the thrilling journey.

I think that the book has enough pages to be a summer reading book. It has good characterization. An example is Dicey Tillerman, the main character in the book. She fights all the way to get to Bridgeport, their aunt’s home. She has the strength and smartness to keep them together and make sure that they survive. She finds out ways to get money. In the story she helps carry people’s grocery bags to their cars, and gets paid for it. They make enough money to survive even longer. She will keep them together for all through their lives.

I think that this book is good because there are four kids in it, and each of them has different characteristics. First of all, Dicey is strong and has a lot of courage that many other kids don’t have. James is a very intelligent kid. Even though he is smart, sometimes he acts not smart at all. He went looking for Dicey when she went to meet their grandmother. That wasn’t very smart. Maybeth is not very smart and everyone thinks that she is mentally retarded. Sammy is a troublesome six-year-old kid that fights a lot and wanders off. He got into a fight with a fourth grader at his camp/school. He wandered off with his bicycle and Dicey was very worried about him.

I think I would recommend this book for summer reading because it is amazing. It is amazing that four kids without hardly any money traveled all the way to their aunt’s house. I think it’s amazing that dicey got them all the money, food, and shelter they needed to travel for weeks. Many kids couldn’t make it this far if they were left with some money, a little food, and no adult. The book is amazing from the starting, when they are in the car, to the end, when they get to their grandmother’s house.

Book Reviewer Project For 2nd Quarter

Article posted December 7, 2006 at 03:52 AM GMT0 • Reads 32

Midnight For Charlie Bone Book Reviewer Project

Vivek Dakoriya Core-4 12/6/06



I picked the book Midnight for Charlie Bone for my project. This book is magical and adventurous thriller. Charlie Bone finds out that he has the power to look at pictures and understand everything that is going on in the person’s mind. Once he realizes this he tells his family and then he is sent to a school called Bloor’s Academy. There he meets other kids with talents like his. He makes some friends and tries to figure a problem that is happening. He meets a lady and gets clues from her. With the help of his two friends they get together and stop the evil. Near the end someone tries to hurt Charlie and three other kids with special talents come and try to save him. In the book Charlie realizes his true abilities and understands what he needs to do to stop the war between the good and the evil. At first Charlie was very unhappy with going to the school, but now he understands that he must go and loves it their. Charlie gets answers to questions he thought he would never understand. When Charlie tries to cope with his three evil aunts that keep asking him questions, his grandmother is aggravated with him. Charlie’s uncle is his only hope, plus his two friends, and his friend who lives near him.

I like this book because of the writing style of Jenny Nimmo. She makes reading her books fun even if you do not like reading much. This book is not too complicated with extremely hard vocabulary nor is it a fifty-page book for second graders. Her style makes the book fun to read. She uses creative and imaginative words to describe the amazing things that go on and are in the book. When she explains things in the book she keeps things understandable. She doesn’t write little things that you wonder why she even put there. In the book she gives very good descriptions about the characters so it is as if the character is your best friend and you know everything about them. She tries to give you as much as information as she can while using the characters. In the book she acts as a narrator and gives specific information and details and the conversations between the characters progress throughout the entire story. She makes the book so complete with good, bad people, well that turn into bad, and people that are just pure evil. She uses all types of characters to make the story seem more exciting and complete. Her ways of describing places is very imaginative. She uses all of the people that are there, the kind of people there, how the place looks, and what the place is meant to be for to explain the places. She uses vivid descriptions for the animals in the book. There are cats that she says are like the color of burning flames. She also says that a kid’s dog has hair the same color as damp hay. She uses all kinds of imaginative words to be very descriptive. She tries to explain all the good things about everything.

I also like this book because of the settings that Jenny Nimmo uses throughout the story. The story goes on in modern times, but happens in many places. For instance the school, his house, his friends’ houses, and the neighborhood are some places where the story goes on. She says that the school is huge and has three separate sections: art, drama, and music. They have there own separate dormitories. They have a big dining hall where they eat breakfast, lunch, and dinner. They have a garden and a field where the kids can go and take a walk or sit down and talk with one another. They have a special room where all the magically gifted students go to do homework. For his house she says he lives in a neighborhood with many houses. They have two floors and about six rooms total. She tells all the main features about his friends’ houses. She also tells about the roads and other houses that are near Charlie Bone’s house. She makes the settings so descriptive that its like they are actually there.

I also like the book because of the elements of plot. The plot is very well developed and complete. She starts off with telling about everything. Then, she starts to go into a deep story and the climax comes. After the climax there is another part of the story and the book ends with a great ending. In the book she tells about the main problem that goes on. The problem is going on within a girl that goes to Bloor’s Academy. They try to uncover her real self instead of the person that has been changed. She was very boring and shy, but after they solved her past, she starts to talk to people and make new friends. Charlie and his friends; Fidelio, Emelia and Benjamin. They work to solve the problem of the girl that was shy and quiet; Emma Tolly. She realizes what happened to her and is adopted by her aunt. She tries to make her feel at home by throwing a party. In the end Charlie decides to still go back to school at Bloor’s.

In conclusion, I really recommend this book as a summer reading book. I think most summer reading books aren’t fun. This would be one that more people would enjoy reading and have fun with. This book should be on the summer reading list because it has enough pages to be a book for seventh-graders even though it isn’t very challenging. I think this book is good because it is the start to the series; Children of the Red King. It is going to lead to a series like Harry Potter books and The Series of Unfortunate Events. They both were made into movies. I think that this book will also become a famous movie. The book makes me want to read it again for the fun. I think the book is a very exciting and magical story with great description and plot. She makes sure all the things are described very clearly and thoroughly. I think that Jenny Nimmo is a very good author. She should write more books to let kids have fun with reading.

Respond to xodaylight

Article posted December 13, 2006 at 03:17 AM GMT0 • Reads 32

Hey thank you for the comment. I usually only forget the commas. I think I need to improve that. Thanks for the reminder.

Respond to sk8ergurl208

Article posted December 13, 2006 at 03:18 AM GMT0 • Reads 32

Thank you for the comment. A great way to keep it short and simple.

4th Quarter Book Project

Article posted May 10, 2007 at 11:39 PM GMT0 • Reads 32

Do you know how every sport has an African–American player who breaks the color barrier? An example is Jackie Robinson, who broke the color barrier in baseball. Arthur Ashe, an African American tennis player, grew up to be a very successful and famous tennis player that changed the world and broke the color barrier in tennis, but how?

Arthur was born on July 10, 1943, in Richmond, Virginia. His parents are Arthur Ashe, Sr. and Mattie Cordell Cunningham Ashe. He later had one brother, Johnnie Ashe. Arthur was a very good student in school. He never got in trouble and was an all-A student until the sixth grade. His father was strict on discipline. Arthur was a more well-behaved kid than Johnnie. “When Arthur was a young child his relatives thought he had some sort of disease because his legs and arms were very thin and his ears stuck out. His dad forbade him from playing football because he thought young Arthur was too skinny.”(Wright, David, Arthur Ashe)

Arthur’s father worked at many places to make money for the family. One of his jobs was that he was a supervisor for a park that had tennis courts, a swimming pool, and baseball fields. The Ashes had to move right next to the park. “When Arthur saw the tennis courts he started playing with anyone that wanted to play. If there was nobody willing to play he would hit the ball off of the backboard.” One day a man named Ron Charity saw Arthur play and asked if he wanted to learn how to play. “Arthur said yes and he quickly learned the rules of the game.” He took Arthur to a man named Robert Johnson who had a tennis program in which he taught young teen-age African-American players. Arthur was only ten years old at the moment. “When Robert saw Arthur he said Arthur was too small, but his mind changed when he saw Arthur play tennis.” (Wright, David, Arthur Ashe) Arthur was always treated unfairly because of his race.

Arthur was put into tournaments by Dr. Johnson. Dr. Johnson tried to enter Arthur in “white” tournaments because he needed better competition. Arthur could beat anyone his age in his local area. Dr. Johnson got a letter saying that the application for tournament play was turned into the officials too late. Dr. Johnson thought that the real reason that they would not let him play was that the organizers of the tournament simply decided not to process the application. Since he could not get into that tournament Dr. Johnson entered Arthur in an ATA (American Tennis Association) tournament. “The ATA was mainly for black adults.” “He won the ATA junior tournament at the age of seventeen.” “He also won the men’s singles championship that same year.” “In Arthur’s senior year of college he went to school in St. Louis in connection with a tennis program.” “That was where my game really developed,” he wrote later. “Arthur didn’t take chances with shots. He simply just returned the balls and waited for an error in his opponent.” (Wright, David, Arthur Ashe)

“Arthur was given a scholarship at the University of California at Los Angeles (UCLA). The scholarship was not only for tennis, but also partly for academics.” (Wright, David, Arthur Ashe) When Ashe was in college he became the sixth best tennis player in the United States. At one of the tournaments his team (UCLA) was playing USC the whole time after the quarterfinals. Ashe had to play Ralston in the finals. He last the first set, but won the next two bringing glory to his college. Arthur went to England to play at Wimbledon. Arthur made it all the way to the fourth round, losing to Roy Emerson. In his senior year at UCLA he became the third best player in the United States. At the end of his college career, he was the best college player in the nation.

Arthur was the third African American tennis player to play at the professional level. He was invited to be on the Davis Cup team in 1963. “Arthur Ashe stunned the tennis world by winning the first U.S. Open in 1968 as an amateur player.” “Ashe tallied his travels in a typical year. He made 129 airplane trips, slept in 71 different beds, and logged 165,000 miles.” “The Association of Tennis Professionals, or ATP, came together in 1972.” Arthur was chosen to be the president of the ATP for two years. “Arthur was the best tennis player in the United States during the decade from 1965 to 1975.”

“Arthur Ashe had a very shocking end to his tennis career.” He had a heart surgery in 1983. “The blood loss made him feel queasy after the operation.” The doctor said if he got a blood transfusion he would feel better. In 1985 he got inducted into the International Tennis Hall of Fame. “In 1968, Arthur and Jean (his wife) decided to adopt a baby girl. They named her Camera.” (Wright, David, Arthur Ashe) “They moved in a New York Suburb called Mount Kisco.” “In 1988 the Ashes went to a gorgeous resort on Lake George. Arthur was trying to make a phone call but could not because the fingers of his right hand would not move.”(Martin, Marvin, Arthur Ashe of the Tennis & The Human Spirit) “The doctor took a CAT scan of his brain. It showed that something was affecting the left side of the brain, which is the part that controls the right side of the body. The doctors took a blood test and told Arthur that his blood was HIV-positive. It was a surprise and a shocker that changed the rest of his life. The infection in his brain was called toxoplasmosis. It was a strong indicator that the person has AIDS. Arthur Ashe was proven to have AIDS.” He asked for his wife and daughter to be checked if they were also HIV-positive. They tested them and found out their blood was HIV-negative, which means that they do not have HIV or AIDS. Arthur had to stop playing tennis. “He took up to thirty pills a day.” (Martin, Marvin, Arthur Ashe of the Tennis & The Human Spirit) He was a sportscaster for HBO and ABC. “Arthur kept lecturing and mostly talks about AIDS, and he helped initiate another project in December 1992, the Arthur Ashe Institute for Urban health in association with a Brooklyn hospital.” When he went there, he was concerned about the children who had AIDS, at the hospital; he made a banner for them. He talked to them and told them he knew how they felt because he also had AIDS. Arthur Ashe was not feeling very well around Christmas time in 1992. He enjoyed his holiday with his family. Arthur got pneumonia in January 1993 and never recovered from it. “On February 6, 1993 Arthur Ashe, Jr., died. On February 10 his body was laid to rest in his hometown of Richmond, Virginia. In 1996, a statue of Arthur Ashe was unveiled on Monument Avenue in Richmond, Virginia- an avenue that had been reserved for the statues of Civil War confederate generals.” (Martin, Marvin, Arthur Ashe of the Tennis & The Human Spirit) Later on Arthur Ashe also got the U.S. Open courts in New York City, New York named after him. It was named the Arthur Ashe Stadium. It was used when the U.S. Open was in the United States.

Arthur Ashe was a wonderful tennis player for his entire career, from his early childhood to his late professional career. He wowed the world with his wonderful game. “He was a role model, a fighter, and an activist. He was a man this world will not soon forget. Arthur broke the color barrier in tennis. He was a great person in all ways.” (Martin, Marvin, Arthur Ashe of the Tennis & The Human Spirit)

I chose this project for many reasons. I play tennis a lot and play in many tournaments. My dad also plays tennis and he was talking to me about Arthur Ashe. I knew that Arthur Ashe was a very good African American tennis player. I wanted to know more about his whole life. I also wanted to know how he became an extremely successful and famous tennis player. After I did research on Arthur Ashe, Jr., I found out that he was not a rich person as a child and his dad was a big motivation to all of his success. His dad was very strict on rules and helped him guide his way to the top of the tennis world. He was not only a very good tennis player, but also was a very good person in all ways. Arthur influenced many people with his courage and strength. I chose the book reviewer project because I had done it for the past book project. I am good at typing and I like doing these kinds of projects because they teach me more about myself. I think that this book project, the book reviewer, fits my strengths and qualities in Language Arts. I also like having to do projects that involve a computer, because it is one of my most favorite things that I use. This book project taught me about Arthur Ashe’s life and his success story.