Reading Response

I have recently read Death Cure by James Dashner. It is about a boy who

escapes from a high security science/testing building, owned by a company called

W.I.C.K.E.D. The main character, Thomas, runs away from the crazy building with

three of his friends(Minho, Brenda, and Newt.) and a berg (a type of drop-ship) pilot

(whose name is Jorge, he knows Brenda from previous interactions) because they

were afraid to be turned into test subjects. Most of the book is about how they’re on

the lam and how they plan their revenge on W.I.C.K.E.D.

                        One thing that I have noticed in the book is that people such as the

Cranks, and the Norms, hate the Munies! I know that this may sound confusing, but

in the book, there are three groups. The Cranks are the people who have the Flare (a

disease).The Norms are the people who don’t have the disease but could get it. The

last of the groups, the Munies, are the people who are immune to getting the Flare,

the terrible disease. Therefore, making them the most hated out of all of the groups.

            This book is a very good one and I would suggest it to anyone that likes

reading fast-paced, action-based, fun!

Matched Reading Response

I have read Matched by Ally Condie, it is about a 16 year old girl named

Cassia who lives in a society where everything is chosen for her. Who her parents

are, who she marries, how many kids she has, and when she dies. On her matching

day, something strange happens… she gets matched with her long time best friend

Xander. This is interesting because when people get matched, they usually don’t

know the person that they are matched with. When Cassia gets home and reads a

card about Xander, everything about him, on the computer … another face shows up.

Another kid she knows, Ky. Someone representing the society gives her the right

card and tell her Xander is still her match. This causes an issue in Cassia’s head

though… does society want her to love Ky? And Ky or Xander?

           

            The relationship between the characters is very important in this story. It is

all based around relationships and the society. Cassia has to has to chose Xander but

for some reason, she wants Ky more than him. There are two things that will keep

Ky from being Matched with Cassia. The fact that she is already matched with

Xander, and that Ky isn’t from the society. Society would never let her and Ky be

together now, how will she be happy with the person she loves? And who is that?

Pink Slime Article reading response

This article is about how schools and fast food restaurants put ‘Pink slime’ into their foods. ‘Pink slime’ is a meat byproduct approved by the USDA. The problem is that it is considered very unhealthy. People are angry with the USDA because they are allowing unhealthy meat filler to be served in restaurants and schools, ending up in the stomachs of consumers. The Author is trying to inform anyone who is eating this stuff what he or she are eating; which everyone has a right to know.

I liked reading this article and didn’t like reading the article for a number of different reasons. I didn’t like the fact that I now know what’s in the burgers that I have been eating for so long. But I liked this article for that same reason. Now I also know not to eat that stuff anymore. This article got me thinking. If they put pink slime in their burgers... what do they put in their French fries? Or in their taco meat? Or even the milk cartons? And what about all of the fast food restaurants? What is in their food? After reading this article I know one thing for sure… no more McDonalds for me!

MATCHED READING RESPONSE

            I am reading Matched by Ally Condie, it is about a 16 year old girl named

Cassia who lives in a society where everything is chosen for her. Who her parents

are, who she marries, how many kids she has, and when she dies. On her matching

day, something strange happens… she gets matched with her long time best friend

Xander. This is interesting because when people get matched, they usually don’t

know the person that they are matched with. When Cassia gets home and reads a

card about Xander, everything about him, on the computer … another face shows up.

Another kid she knows, Ky. Someone representing the society gives her the right

card and tell her Xander is still her match. This causes an issue in Cassia’s head

though… does society want her to love Ky? And Ky or Xander?

           

            The relationship between the characters is very important in this story. It is

all based around relationships and the society. Cassia has to has to chose Xander but

for some reason, she wants Ky more than him. There are two things that will keep

Ky from being Matched with Cassia. The fact that she is already matched with

Xander, and that Ky isn’t from the society. Society would never let her and Ky be

together now, how will she be happy with the person she loves? And who is that?

The Scorch Trials

I have recently read The Scorch Trials by James Dashner. It is the second book in the Maze Runner trilogy. It starts where everyone from the maze ends up. A small building where WICKED is keeping them. The maze group ends up face to face with a man from WICKED and ends up nicknaming him rat face. Rat face tells the group that they have to go through portal, navigate their way down a pitch black hallway for a undefined amount of time, then travel 100 miles north within 2 weeks through a post apocalyptic desert all while avoiding cannibals and a large group of girls that want to kill them.

The Maze Runner

I have recently read The Maze Runner by James Dashner. It is about a group of boys who are trapped in a maze and are told nothing about it. The boys are going through the motions one day when a girl shows up in the maze. This girl was the first girl to enter the maze in two years, the boys find this a little fishy. To make things worse after she enters the maze everything goes haywire. The doors from the main area of the maze don't close like they do every night, and the whole maze is kept in a weird twilight light. The boys then put the girl into a jail building built in the center of the town until the boys decide what to do. At some point while she was in jail, the boys figure a way out of the maze. The boys then run to the end with the girl of the maze and get met at the end by the people who sent them there.

This is the end of book one.

Everlost Reading Response

I am reading Everlost by Neal Shusterman. It is about a boy named Nick and a girl named Allie. It starts when Ally and her father were driving down a highway. On the other side of the road, a boy named Nick and his family are driving to a wedding ceremony. The two cars end up crashing and Nick and Allie end up smashing into each other preventing their arrival into afterlife. Nick and Allie end up in a place called Everlost and their story is about how they make it into the Afterlife.

Rot and Ruin Reading Response

I have recently read Furnace by Alexander Gordon Smith. It is the fourth book in the Escape From Furnace series. The series is about how the main character's Alex and Zee attempt to escape from Furnace penitentiary. Furnace is a jail for minors that have commit the worst of the worst crimes. At some point. Furnace starts running out of inmates so they started get shut down. Furnace stopped this shut down by framing children for committing murders; so they are sent to the penitentiary.

I liked this book because it was talking about prison and the whole prison experience. Theres just a little bit of twist that I love in a book

The Drummer Boy of Shiloh Reading Response

I have recently read in class The Drummer Boy of Shiloh by Ray Bradbury. It all starts with a drummer boy named Joby sleeping under a peach tree. He was startled awake by a peach stone falling from the tree and hitting his drum. After he sits up panicked Joby turns his drum on its side, and notices all of the soldiers with him in the peach orchard. "Me, thought the boy, I got only a drum and two sticks to beat it." Joby sat there believing that was not important to the war and had no real reason to be there. This changes when he meets the general.

"Why its the drummer boy, isn't it?" The general says. The two start to talk and at some point the general realizes that Joby is not confident in being a drummer boy. "You ready for tomorrow or the next day Joby?" The general asks. "I think so." was Joby's reply. This is where the general starts to tell Joby that he is important and he does play a role in the army. "You are the heart of the army. Think about that. You are the heart of the army."

At this point Joby turns his drum so it faces the sky, and puts his arm around it. Joby changed alot thru out the story. He ended up becoming the heart of the army. I personally think he became more than that, I feel he became the soul of the army. This is because Joby is so proud of being a drummer boy that his spirits will bring up the spirits of the rest of the army. He was proud to not just be the drummer boy of Shiloh, but a drummer boy.

Dust and Decay

I have recently read the book Dust and Decay by Jonathan Maberry. This book is about a 15 year old Benny Imura and his older brother Tom Imura in a post apocalyptic world. Tom Imura is a famous bounty hunter in this world and he took Benny and his friends under his wings. Bad things happen out in the bounty hunter world, a bunch of the bounty hunters kidnap children from local towns. Tom Imura and his group are trying to put a stop to it.

The theme of this book is most likely along the lines of something along the lines of 'always be wary of everything around you'. I feel like this is the theme because most of the time the bounty hunters are the good guys... but they can also be the bad ones.

Reading Response on Aaron's and Brigid's Reading Responses

I liked and disliked reading Aarons reading response for several reasons. One positive reason that I liked it is I learned a lot about Ranger's Apprentice Book 1. A negative thing that I thought while reading his response was that he gave too much information about the whole story. This disappointed me because after I read all about Sir Rodney and Halt I feel like I already know everything about the book.

I enjoyed Brigid's Reading Response because it left me wanting to read the book A Long Walk to Water. I learned enough things in this reading response to get me interested in reading the book, but not too many things that I feel she gave it all away.

From Baghdad With Love

This summer i have recently read the book From Baghdad, With Love by Lieutenant Colonel Jay, Kopelman with Melinda Roth. It is a story about a dog named Lava and how Lt. Col. Jay tried to bring him back to the states. It all started when Marines in Fallujah, Iraq, entered an abandoned house and when they hear a suspicious noise, the team arm themselves and enter the room from where the noise came. What they were expecting was some insurgents, but what they got was a little puppy. Against the Marine policy, the team decides to take the puppy back to camp and care for it. But time is wasting away and the team is going back to the states. They desperately try to bring the puppy with them, but its not easy. Imagine trying bringing a puppy from Baghdad to the U.S.A. that you're not allowed to have on a military plane. Luckily for the team a journalist by the name of Anne Garrels who was traveling with them helps hide Lava while the Marines travel home. This is where the start of Lava's real journey begins.