okay, julie… “inception” has been watched – verdict??? it was great – thanks for recommending it
(the message to the rest of you people is if you can’t recommend books to me, then at least go with movies:)
on, to the reading…
“how winning works” by benincassa – we’ll do some writing this week on some of what the author mentioned – basically, that it takes a team to be successful – and the author should know b/c she’s spent 17 years traveling the world as an ultrathlete teammate
“tyler’s magic mountain” by ater – based on a true story – west virginia middle school wrestling team gets inspired by a kid with cystic fibrosis – quick read – would be nice for battle of the books
“leaving story avenue” by laRosa – best book i read this week – cbs writer now, ny newsman back then – a memior of escaping housing projects to fit into an entirely different arena – good gifted tie-ins
“rules the red rubber ball” by carroll – how combining work and play is key
“teaching in comics” – teacher rules in a graphic novel – LOVED IT!!! wish more of my edu books had been comics…
as for now, i’m working (working – and slowly) through “the three musketeers” by dumas – it’s not every exciting and very long (672 pages on my nook) – but i guess that’s why there’s president’s day:)
have a great week
maf
Thank you for the kinds words re: my memoir “Leaving Story Avenue.”
Ahhh Mayfield! I’m so glad you enjoyed it. I can die a happy person now that I know I’ve shared the magic of Inception with someone! It blew my mind the first time I saw it. I think I’ve seen it a total of 8 times now. I just love it so much (:
Now…
I am currently reading The Hobbit. Of course, I know that it’s on our reading list for this summer and I could just wait to read it then but I was just pumped up to go ahead and read it.
Jake suggested it to me to read, and I usually go with his suggestions.
Our copy of The Hobbit of however is as old as dirt. It was my dad’s when he was in college. I love old books look though.
The pages are close to a bright neon yellow. So anyways Bilbo Baggins is a Hobbit and he lives by himself. He’s never adventured out anywhere until one day Gandalf shows up at his home asking him if he wants to go on an advenure. Gandalf leaves and said he was going to come back the next day. But instead, Gandalf made a mark on Bilbo’s door and the next day a bunch of dwarves showed up at his home and he fed them all.
Gandalf showed up and basically forced him into going on the trip. So they set off on their little journey.
That’s all for right now.
-Julie
P.S. LOVE the title of your recent blog post. 😀
I am reading “The Graveyard Book”. In this book, Nobody Owens, who got his name after his parents and sister were murdered when he was one-year-old, is adopted by a ghost couple. Bod is happy as he grows in his Graveyard home and is taught about history and learns to Fade and see as the dead see from the Graveyard’s other inhabitants. He is also taught about the outside world by his gaurdian, Silas. However, he soon seeks revenge on those who killed his family.
This book is unbelievably like Harry Potter. Both of them have lost their parents and have something along the lines of a godfather. Harry-Sirius, Bod-Silas. (even the guardians’ names sound alike!)
Bod and Harry also both have amazing powers. Bod can Fade out of peoples notice and Harry can do magic.
Harry and Bod both want revenge on those who destroyed their families but failed to kill them.
I think that the author probably should have gone in a little deeper in forming Bod’s parents and sisteer because it’s harder to feel sorry for him if we know nothing about what kind of people his parents were. For all we know, they could have been horrible! (probably not, though.) In Harry Potter, we at least had Lily and Jame’s friends and teachers to give us information about them.
I do, however, like how the athor is able to neatly fit 15 years worth of Bod’s life into one book, and manages to tell us how old he is, without simply saying “Nobody Owens is now 10 years-old.”
I really like Silas’s character. He’s mysterious, like Sirius, and a little dangerous. He’s neither alive nor dead but still cares for Bod and wants to protect him, though he has never so much as given him a hug.
I really like this book. It took a while to get used to the way it was written, though. After that and after you learn the terms of the dead, it’s really quite enjoyable! 🙂
Hey Mr. Mayfield. I finished Gone, and over the 3 day weekend i read the first book in the Harry Potter series, because I saw it in the top ten on the 100 best children books, so I re-read it for about the 10th time, and it really is a great book, and as a 6 year old i could see why the series fascinated me.
Oh I didnt mean to post it:( Well now im begginnning the Ranger’s Apprentice Series, on the first book, The Ruins Of Gorlan. I heard it was a very good book series so i decided to check it out. So in the prolouge there is this guy named Mogarath who has been in exile from the kingdom of Aruel for 15 years because he had started a revolt against them. He had been sent to the mountains of rain and night as he has been preparing his revenge attack against them all with his Wargals(half dog/human things he found in the mountains. He revolted 15 years ago when he was at the battle of Hackham Heath, and had been defeated because a troop of the elite force, The Rangers had found a secret ford and had flanked them from behind as they all retreated back to the mountains where he had been building up his forces for 15 years to leada huge revenge attack.
Didn’t blog last week.
Doug’s father was wrong. They had a lot of good food spread out on picnic tables. All of the men were playing horseshoes while the women were talking. Most of the kids were having chicken fights in the pond but Doug couldn’t swim because he had a tattoo that said “Momma’s Baby” on his chest. He got one night when his abusive father was drunk and Doug said he wanted a tattoo like Lucas’s but his dad forced him to get the other one instead. When he got it he was screaming and crying because he was little and it hurt. They got a letter that said it was from Lucas but it wasn’t in his handwriting so they knew someone wrote it for him. It said that he would be home soon and that he missed them. That’s all.
Trent
I’m reading Shiver
Mon.- When Sam gets out of the hospital Grace brings him back to her place, not knowing that the wolves have a house for when they change into a human when it’s warm. So, he has to sleep on the floor
Tues.- Grace eventually figures out they can’t be together forever because he changes into a wolf when it’s cold. And its cold right now, so he always has to stay inside. And when they keep changing over the years, they eventually stay wolf.
Wed.- So, Sam won’t tell Grace that he can’t stay and dodge the cold forever, so one day he takes her to the house he grew up in most of his life when he became a wolf. He’s really afraid of bathtubs…. I’ll get to that though.
Thurs.- So Sam’s afraid of bathtubs because when he was child and he was bitten by a werewolf, he started to turn into one when he still lived with his biological parents. It really freaked them out, so they tried to shove him under water and slit his wrists. Kind of sad 🙁
So, anyway, I must go 🙂
-Saint K
-when the moon is blue, the clock strikes noon
Had a good long weekend! I am reading Rules again, decided to put my other book down for a while!(: Plus, this book is BEAST!! Lol…
Tuesday-Author’s Purpose
I think the author’s purpose of writing Rules was to tell a story. It is about a girl who has a brother with autism. She is always trying to keep her brother from embarrassing her but he can’t help it. I would be the same way though. She meets a boy named Jason one day at her brother’s therapy. He is cute and funny, but has a disorder were he can’t speak and is in a wheel chair. Does she like him? There is a dance coming up and she is planning on going, could she ask Jason?
Wednesday-Change
So far, I have read to were Cat is helping her new neighbour prepare for the upcoming dance! Catherine really likes Jason and wants to ask him to the dance, but she can’t find the confidence in herself. At the beginning of the book Cat was brave, like a hero. Now, she isn’t as heroic all because of this one boy she likes. Who knew boys had that big of an impact on us girls? WOW! Well, my story has also changed because she has meet a friend. Someone to fill that spot her friend leaves in the summer! Every summer her friend leaves for California! An old lady moved out and a new girl moved in! Can they be best friends?
Hey Mr.Mayfield. My last blog was the prologue of the first book in the Ranger’s Apprentice series. So Im now going to start with the full story. It’s mainly set around 2 kids in general, Will andHorace. They are both Wards( otherwise known as orphans) of the Redmont Castle in Arauld. The head baron is Baron Arald, and he is the one who takes in these orphans, and cares for them. There are 5 altogether. Will, Horace, George, Alyss, and Jenny. They are all 15, and are preparing for the time known as the Choosing. It’s where they take a selected group of craftmasters (scribemaster, diplomatic, chef, blacksmith, etc.), and they decide from the wards which one they would like to take in as an apprentice.
hey mr mayfield i am reading hunger games.(i have had it longer than i expected.) for my lack of time for reading has decreased, i am only in a few pages on chapter 12.but it has been amazing reading a violent,perfectly paced and very brilliant plotted book by Suzanne Collins.as Katniss has just entered the arena, she stood frightened that one wrong move before the gong and your legs would be blown off by land mines. before the gong rang, she knew Peeta was watching her. she looked at his direction and he shook his head,signaling her not to go for the Cornucopia. the gong rings and she misses her chance to beat the other tributes to the bow-and-arrow because of peetas distraction.
blog #2
Katniss aims for the woods in spite of climbing in tall trees so she would be able to see her enemies approach before they could attack. that was her strategy from back home.she runs quicley to get away from the fight for the Cornucopia and doesn’t stop to look back. she notices a bright orange backpack in her distance about 20 feet away. she gets to is at the same time as a boy from District 9. she struggles to grab the bag away but the boy suddenly coughs and blood splatters her face. the boy falls to the ground with a knife in his back. she sees about 50 feet away a girl with about a dozen knifes in her hand from the Cornucopia.
blog #3
the girl was heading straight for katniss. she had remembered from practice that the girl hadn’t missed a single target and she was coming up quick.katniss took no time to grab the bag stubble over the boy from District ( (that no longer lived) and darted into the woods without any sort of hesitation. she ran for as long as she could then slowed down to a modern paced jog. she contined the pattern of jogging and taking a short rest by walking till’ she could catch her breath.
So i am reading the hunger games (for the second time now(: ) and i am now remembering so much stuff that i forgot! Wow, but whatsreally cool is that i had really started reading this book in the 5th grade, look at me getting a head start 🙂 well whats even cooler is that i am currently blogging from my new………drumroll please…………my new nook!!!!!! I got for my birthday! So exciting, anyway iam just now getting to where they roll into the capitol.
Katniss, the girl on fire. Again
At the picic the picnic there was a trivia contest that was supposed to be on Babe Ruth (Doug’s abusive father knows everything there is to know about Babe Ruth) but instead it was just on random baseball facts. Doug was with an old man that he met for the trivia contest but the old man turned out to be one of the bosses. Doug and the old man got into a three-way tie and there was going to be a tiebreaker. The question was how many stiches are there on a baseball. All of the other groups were puzzled but Doug had counted one time so he knew the answer. When they got it right the other teams were mad but Doug was happy and so was his dad because one of the prizes was a parking space up front and so he got it. Another prize was a baseball signed by some people. When they were in the car on the way home Doug’s dad told him not to expect Mr. Big Bucks Ballard to give him the baseeball. That’s all until tomorrow.
Trent
Last day of the week so gonna do something fun!(:
Thursday-Creative- Diary Entry
Well, tonight should be fun! I am going to the varsity softball teams game. Going to hang out with friends and watch them play! This could be a better night… if I had friends. I lost all my best friends years ago in a bad bus accident. Some were injured but died on the way to the hospital, or the next day. I still go out and have fun, I do have friends. But no one will ever fill the hole in my heart. It doesn’t help that my parents are divorced either! My life has had some ruff spots, but I can always pull through!
Hey. I am going to do my last blog this week on Ranger’s Apprentice: Te Ruins of Gorlan. So I left off as all 5 of the wards were discussing the choosing with anticipation. It seemed like everyone except Will knew what they were going to be chosen for. Horace would be in Battleschool because he was large and athletic which was the perfect build for a knight. Jenny was going to be an apprentice to the head chef at the castle because she had a natural sense of cooking. George would be a scribemaster because he loved to debate, and address formal situations as well as write, and Alyss would be in the Diplomatic service of the castle. That left Will alone, and he didn’t have any idea what he wanted to be. He wanted to be in Battleschool, but he was incredibly scrawny and small.
Hey! So I have finished The Graveyard Book, which was REALLY good. I really liked that Bod was able to get his revenge on Jack Frost and was shocked that Scarlett had become so frightened of him. It makes me sad that Bod is loosing his ability to see his ghoste family and friends. But at least he’ll have Silas if he really needs help.
I have now begun Bloody Jack. It’s a story a girl at church, Mary told me about. Mary also happens to be the main character’s name, though she changes it to Jack after she desquises herself as a boy to go out to sea. It’s really sad that Mary’s parents and sister died and left her an orphan. However, I really despise Muck. What sort of a filthy, rotten, twisted person do you have to be to hope of street kids to die so that you can sell their bodies to surgons to discect?
I also think that it’s sad that Charlie dies, but I kind of think it’s selfish of Mary to leave the rest of the gang without saying good-bye. At least she found someone to take care of them.
I really am interested to find out how Mary makes it at sea. I also want to see how James (a.k.a Jamiey) adjusts to his new life, after coming from a rich and proper home. What is interesting is that this book is written exactly the way Mary thinks. Having had no real schooling, (except being taught to read by her father before he died) she thinks and talks in old fashion and improper ways. Another book I read that’s written like this is Goober Joe, which was also very good.
I really hope Mary does well and that she’s able to follow her dream of seeing the world. (and Kangaroos) 😀
Today is creative.
One day two cousins were in the woods just playing around. Annabeth, the sister, fell into an old abandoned mine shaft. Both Annabeth and Jacob knew the woods were covered with them but they had never worried about them before because they didn’t have to. Annabeth screamed and Jacob heard her. Even though they couldn’t see each other, they could hear each other. Jacob had a rope with him but it wouldn’t reach all the way down. Jacob threw her down the backpack that he always carried down to her. It had an apple, some water, a rope, a knife , and a flashlight in it. She immediently turned on the flashlight but Jacob couldn’t see the light. She must have been really far down if Jacob couldn’t even see the light. Luckily, she wasn’t hurt. If she would have been hurt, Jacob wouldn’t have had any chance of saving her. She climbed her way out after about three hours. When they got back their house, Jacob grabbed another flashlight and as much rope as he could carry. They went back to the shaft and climbed down it. That’s all.
Trent
Alright so I did not get to blog yesterday because I had gone to the doctor and was in bed for the rest of the day when I got home. I’m still reading The Hobbit but I’m almost finished now.
I also got a book on my Nook that was The Complete Works of Edgar Allen Poe. I made it my goal to finish it and I would read a little bit every day. I FINALLY Have finished! 1,144 Pages of Edgar Allen Poe.
So back to The Hobbit. All the dwarves and Bilbo have gotten kidnapped by goblins who have taken all their things. The goblins were also going to eat them.
Gandalf appears out of nowhere in a poof of smoke. But Bilbo disappears and awakes in complete darkness. He is in a cave.
He starts to crawl around along the floor in the dark. He can’t say a thing but he finds a ring on the floor of the cave and he puts it in his pocket.
Bilbo keeps crawling and he goes into a puddle of water. There is a lake inside the cave and inside the lake is Golam. I really creepy creature who freaks me out.
He likes riddles and is the owner of the ring that Bilbo found. But Golam does not know he has it.
Ok that’s all
-Julie (:
Tuesday
This week I’m blogging about The Castaways of the Flying Dutchman. It is by Brian Jaques, the author of the Redwall series. Anywho, I know that he wrote this to entertain the reader. I pretty sure anyways. I think he wrote this to entertain, but he used facts about the countries and myths of the Flying Dutchman to an advantage, because he twists it to a new point of view of a never-before-heard-of-character. At the same time though he creates the image a huge ship where the boy is put in the galley.
Wednesday
Wondering what would have happened if Neb would have escaped in Denmark?
My guess is that he would have found the black lab and went to a bench and hid until the pirates were gone. Then he would have made a home and been one of those beggars who sits on the corner of the block in New York. Or maybe if he didn’t like the dog anymore … sell the poor black lab. I mean that’s what I would have to do if I were him, but I’m not so that is all his discision. That is what I think would have happened to Neb if he escaped the ship in Denmark.
Thursday
After a lot of thought The Castaways of the Flying Dutchman is like the beginning of Peter and the Starcatchers. They both have characters get on ships. Neb got on because he was running from his stepbrothers and one of them hit him and he fell into the ice cold water, then all of a sudden a stringy rope hits his head and he uses all his strength to climb onboard. In the other book orphans get onboard because the are forced to be slaves to an evil king overseas. Well, I mean, they have \the same ideas just different plots.
mon- as soon as they enter slipspace the didact sets coordinates to a planet that was owned by precursers. precursers were the poeple that forerunners mirrored their life after. the planet was wrecked when they got there.
tues- once they got close enough to land they they started heading toward the planet. the hull of the ship creaked as they got closer.once they finally landed they got out of the ship and started heading to the collosium.
weds-at the collosium everything was wrecked. the place had been used as a fortress to the humans during the human-forerunner war. the humans looked around and were amazed by everything they saw.
thurs- they headed a little further past the collosium. and they reached an underground cave. inside there was nothing but a mold. the didact said that the mold was used to hold a prisoner more fierce than anything in the universe. that thing was the flood.
(2/21)Tuesday- POV Change-Harry Potter and the Deathly Hollows- Nagini(Voldermort’s pet snake)
Ssssnack time for me. NO!! Massster sssaysss to frighten and paralyze the boy, but not to harm him. I would rather eat him inssstead, but I mussst not go againssst Massster’sss wissshes. I hear the boy and that dirty Mudblood downssstairsss now. It isss time to ssscare them now…
(2/22)Wednesday-POV Change-Harry Potter and the Sorceror’s Stone-The Sorting Hat
I am the Sorting Hat, proud and old. I choose first years’ houses but not their clothes. I once sat on the head of young Tom Riddle, as well as that of Albus Dumbledore. Why, I have even took a few minutes to sit on the head of the great Harry Potter, the Boy Who Lived, Undesireable Number One, the defeater of Lord Voldermort. Not many can say all of that I’m afraid. I am the Sorting Hat, proud and old. I choose first years’ houses but not their clothes…
(2/23)Thursday-POV Change-Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire-the Goblet of Fire
I am a centuries old treasure, an absolutely priceless jewel. This year I am in Hogwarts School of Wizardry and Witchcraft. I shall choose a winner from each school, and they shall play in the Triwizard Tournament, a great honor. Look there, it’s Mr. Weasley and Mr. Weasley, trying to sneak there names into me, of course, but they will never cross my age line. Poof. A beard for you. Poof. A beard for you, too. Ha!HA!HA! I love this school