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Reading Log:The AlchemistPosted on 31/5/2007 at 5:02 PM - 0 Comments - Post Comment - Link
Title: The Alchemist Author: Paulo Coelho Character Description: The story is told from an Andulasian shepherd boy whose name is Paulo Coelho’s enchanting novel is all about magic, dreams and wisdom. Its genre is adventure. The audience it is written for is probably ages 11+ but is mostly for older people. The basic message of this story is probably to never give up whatever the circumstance. The story takes place in When he reaches Alfayoum Oasis, he meets two important people: Fatima-a girl he falls in love with and the alchemist who wanted to meet In I liked the part where the refugees start bashing The thing I learnt most about this novel is to never give up and to try and achieve our dreams. The thing I liked most about the novel was that it was full of suspense and made you want to keep reading. The thing I least liked about the novel was that there were some parts that weren’t very believable. People seeking a book of adventure, hope and dreams should definitely read the Alchemist. I would definitely recommend this book and overall I would give it 9 out of 10 since there were some unbelievable parts in it. Reading Log:Chinese CinderellaPosted on 31/5/2007 at 4:56 PM - 0 Comments - Post Comment - Link
Title: Chinese Cinderella Author: Adeline Yen Mah Character Description: The story is told from Chinese Cinderella (CC)’s point of view. The characters involved in the novel are her dad, Niang, her aunt, the Secret Dragon Society, the American soldiers, the Japanese soldiers and Master Wu. My favourite character is Marat who is part of the Secret Dragon Society. Even though his brother is held captive by the Japanese and his parents were murdered, he remains calm and accepts CC- even helps her out. He is half Russian and half Chinese. I think he is the coolest out of all the characters because in the end, he finds a plan on how to get his brother to escape the Japanese concentration camp. The book I decided to do my review on is called Chinese Cinderella by Adeline Yen Mah. The genre of the book is adventure mixed with war. The audience it is written for is children from 12+. The message is probably to let us know how some children do not get the love from their parents and have to go through a war at the same time. The story took place in Shanghai-China. It was set during the Japanese invasion of CC is born to a rich Chinese family. When her mother dies, her dad marries another woman who CC has to call Niang. Even though CC is safe from the war because of her rich family, she ends up on the street .After Niang’s long and painful cruelty, CC has a fight with her and then as a punishment, gets kicked out of the house. CC seeks refuge first at her favourite aunts house and then at a martial arts school and then joins the Secret Dragon Society. There under the guidance of Grandma Wu, she trains with some orphaned acrobats. Soon there is a mission-to save Marat’s brother and the other Americans from Bridge House-a concentration camp. There is also another mission-to save the American pilots who had just crashed and were about to be hunted down by the Japanese. CC, with the help of The Secret Dragon Society successfully completes these missions-but not without tragedy. After this a man comes with terrible news-CC’s favourite aunt had been killed by the Japanese. In the end CC decides to stay with the Secret Dragon Society and just fake her death so her Niang and dad would stop looking for her. But then her dad still loves her…Should she fake her death-or not? Most of the plot is believable except some parts aren’t like when they take over the concentration camp. The climax and ending was very satisfying but a bit unfinished since I wanted to know whether or not she would go home or stay with the Secret Dragon Society. I leant about how people’s life could be different just by their parents not giving them the love they deserve. I also learnt how war could tear families apart. The book teaches people never to give up. The part I liked most was when she talked back to her step-mother because it was a totally unexpected. The part I least liked was when the Japanese soldiers killed CC’s aunt. I think teenagers would be interested in reading this novel and I would definitely recommend it. I would give it 9 out of 10 because even though it was really good, the author could have made the part about the concentration camp more believable. Reading Log:All Fall DownPosted on 31/5/2007 at 4:53 PM - 0 Comments - Post Comment - Link
Author: Susan Geason Characters: The story is told from Christabel McManus’s point of view. Other characters include her Dad, Caddie the cook , Paddy who is kidnapped by his father, Katie-caddies daughter, the Housekeeper, Maggie-mum of paddy, Laura-Belle’s friend, Paddy’s dad- Sean Rafferty, Governess-Ms. Swift, Stable boy-Billie, Jeannie-Sean’s wife, the Stanley family, cabdriver who kidnapped Paddy and Belle, Mr. Ludd and Mrs. Irma who kidnapped Belle and Paddy, Biddy who helped Belle and Paddy escape and the O’Riordans- Paddy’s family who want him back. My favourite character is Christabel because she saves Paddy, fights for her rights as a girl and has an interesting personality. The book I done my review on is called All Fall Down written by Susan Geason. The genre of the story is adventure mixed with history and the audience it is written for is 13+. The basic message of the story is that there are poor people in the world who can’t afford as much as you and also that the rights of women in 1990 were much different than now. The streets of towns were also dangerous. The story took place in Fourteen year old Christabel McManus is bored and lonely. Since the death of her mother her father has thrown himself into work and she only has her governess and the cook for company. When a servants eight year old son Paddy gets kidnapped by his dad, Christabel decides to rescue him-by dressing as a boy herself and heading into the dangerous streets of The Rocks with the guidance of the stable boy-Billie. What she finds there is horrible beyond imagination. People getting kidnapped and drunk and beaten. The streets were dirty with rats and rubbish. They were so cramped with around 2 families living in one house-if that’s what you call it. She remembers her fathers warning about the deadly Bubonic Plaque which passes on through rats. She shudders as a rat passes her. The first time she tries to save Paddy she fails but the second time is more by chance than plan as she had done the first time. She takes him on a cab but it turns out the cabdriver is a kidnapper and he takes them to a Mr. Ludd and Mrs. Irma who make them clean and work. Belle finds out that she and Paddy will be sold to a ship-the Mary Anne in a couple of days. She thinks of a plan. The skinny girl-Biddy who also works there and gets beaten by the kidnappers agrees to go out on Sunday-the only day she doesn’t work-and to go to the police and tell them where Paddy and Belle are. Since Belle is very rich and her dad is famous, the police are looking all over for her and that is the talk of the town. The plan succeeds and Belle returns home and so does Paddy. Belle’s father starts taking more notice of her and allows her to go school instead of learning at home. He employs Biddy and she falls in love with Billy the stable-boy. The police arrest the kidnappers. Paddy stayed on in Altona with his mother and after the ordeal they had lived through, he was completely devoted to Christabel. The epidemic forced the city council to clean up the city. Houses, streets and even whole neighbourhoods in inner I liked the part where she sees the poor people’s home because it makes you realise not everyone lives in luxury. The plot is believable and it should be because not only is this book adventure but also history. The climax and ending was satisfying. The thing I learnt most about this novel is that there are poor people in the world who can’t afford as much as you and also that the rights of women in 1990 were much different than now. The streets of towns were also dangerous. The thing I liked most about this novel is that there was a lesson but the author could have put in more suspense. People interested in this novel would be teenagers. I would recommend it and out of 10 I would give 8 because the author could have put in more suspense. Reading Log- The Red CardiganPosted on 31/5/2007 at 4:38 PM - 0 Comments - Post Comment - Link
Title: The Red Cardigan Author: J.C Burke Characters: The story is told from the main characters point of view- Evie. Other characters in the novel are her dad, who with the help of Theo, his friend, helps Evie to understand who she is. Her mum, who doesn’t support Evie, until the end. Evie’s friends- Alex and Poppy who support right through to the end. The police and detectives who ask Evie for help for their case. Athena’s family, who are the family of the missing girl- Athena who Evie has to find. Her art teacher Mr. Powell who dislikes Evie for the strange things she does. Seb and Victoria help her find who she really is and there is also of-course, Evie’s classmates who think she is really weird and usually stay away from her. My favourite character is probably Evie because of the powers she has. The book I decided to do my review on is called The Red Cardigan by J.C Burke. The story is a thriller mixed with crime and mystery. The audience it is written for is probably ages 12+. The story is fiction mixed with real life and the basic theme is probably to bring out our imagination. The story has many settings in The story starts with Evie. A girl who doesn’t understand who she is, ever since that weird art class that turned the whole class against her- including her teacher. Even her own mother became a problem. Evie can't explain why she drew a picture of her classmate's dead brother. She can't explain how she knew what he looked like and how he died. She only knows she feels terrified and confused. She wonders "Who am I? What am I?" When suddenly a girl tries to contact Evie through signs, Evie is lost but then her grandmothers best friend calls and guides Evie because she too has the gift Evie does-to contact the dead. These signs include dreams and when Evie tries to draw her best friend, the picture turns out to be another girl. Evie’s mum realises what is happening and tries to stop Evie from learning who she is. But the signs become stronger. Finally her mum goes to The girl is a Greek girl called Athena who went missing in Evie goes to At home, Evie’s mum is actually proud of her and Evie learns not to be scared of who she is because her power is not a curse as she used to think, but it is a gift. The part I liked the most is when Evie draws her friend and it turns out to be another girl. It is unexpected and freaky. The plot isn’t believable and it’s not meant to be. The climax and ending were satisfying. The thing I learnt most about this novel is that your family is important and to never be afraid if you are different. The thing about this novel I liked most was that it was full of suspense and it was really spooky. The thing I least liked about it was that it was a bit confusing because the author went from one scene to another really quickly. I think the people most interested in this novel would probably be teenagers. I would definitely recommend it and out of 10 I would give it 10! Freaky. Reading Log:the Story of my LifePosted on 26/5/2007 at 8:58 AM - 0 Comments - Post Comment - LinkStory of my life...i'm stilldoing this book. IT'S LIKE, THE GREATEST BOOK EVER!!! yeah well, i need to finish it. Reading Log 2-DEVASTATION ROADPosted on 3/5/2007 at 5:43 PM - 2 Comments - Post Comment - Link
Author: Joanna Baker still writing summary and character description Reading Log-Prove Yourself a HeroPosted on 3/5/2007 at 3:56 PM - 1 Comments - Post Comment - Link
Author:K.M Peyton Genre: Thriller Character Description: Jonathan Meredith:smart and well-educated, funny,clautrphobic. Peter:friendly, funny, Jonathan's only friend and supporter. Jonathan's parents:care a lot about money, wealthy, determined to find kidnappers. Kidnappers:proffesional, well-educated, calm, very organised. This book is about a wealthy boy-Jonathan Meredith, son of a son of a rich horse-dealing family, is kidnapped and held to ransom. The ransom is half a million dollars and his parents feel bitter about paying up. The only person who witnessed the kidnapping is Peter, Jonathan's friend. Jonathan studies his kidnappers behaviour. They don't treat him badly but he is blindfolded the whole time. He tries to escape a number of times but fails. His parents pay the money, and he is released. The parents feel bitter at having lost face - not to say £500,000 - to the criminals, and Jonathan feels ashamed because, despite his self-control throughout his ordeal, he cracked at the end. He starts having nightmares about it, and his mother arranges for him to work at a neighbouring stables with his best friend Peter. This cures him of his nightmares, but it is only when he spots one of his kidnappers and goes to his house to confront him that he overcomes all his fears, getting shot in the process. His parents finally realise they had made a mistake and that it was their fault that Jonathan had wanted to find the kidnappers and 'Prove himself a hero'. They feel very bad and his mum visits him in hospital. She talks to Peter and admits that she feels sorry for Jonathan and wishes she had behaved less hostile towards him. I recommend this book to anyone looking for a thriller book. It is great and very interesting. It gives the reader an insight about the behaviour of different people under stress-Jonathan, his parents and the kidnappers.
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Great book