Modern Marvels - Money

'Money can't buy happiness' and 'The lull of money is the route of all evil' are just two popular sayings about money. For most of us, money consumes our lives - spending, saving and earning it. There are two agencies that work around the clock to manufacture money. The Bureau of Engraving and Printing prints our paper currency and the U.S. Mint, which is the largest mint in the world, manufactures coins. There are mints located across the Unites States in Denver, San Fransisco, West Point and more. Downtown Philadelphia has one of the oldest mints. Mints manufacture over 11 billion coins a year and 30 million coins each day. Today, the coin design is computerized. A model is sculpted in clay to get the fine details. Then a rubber mold is made to create a hard epoxy model. Machines trace the image into steel and a dye then reverses the image with recessed features. This results in a master dye. Metal strips in coils are then fed into a machine that punches out round discs called blanks. The machine makes about 1500 blanks per coil. They use heat to treat the metal blanks and soften them. The coins are then washed and dried and the blanks are then formed into the shape of the coin. There are two dyes in each machine, one for the head of the coin and one for the tail. Each machine turns out 750 coins per minute. Inspectors sample coin to check the quality before they are all counted and bagged. Two thousand pound bags are then sent to the Federal Reserve (also known as the Fed).

In 1789, there was no unified system for money in our country. Each colony had its own currency. Thomas Jefferson recommended a decimal coin system and that we create a Mint to manufacture the coins. His rival Hamilton, believed in bank notes. In 1793 production of the first Mint was started. Paul Revere's manufacturing company was used for some of the first copper coins. Back then, all coins were made by hand. It took three years to make the first million coins in the United States. Congress was not happy about the slow pace. Also, the Gold Rush complicated the countries currency problems. The rich in Georgia and the Carolinas had wealth from gold dust, but there was no simple way to turn it into coins. A gentleman named Templeton Reed actually built his own Mint and he bought the gold dust. He was the first of forty private individuals to make money from coins. The government then opened up more Mints around the country as gold rushes occurred. As coins got stronger, the paper currency was getting weaker. At that time, there were 1600 different banks using 7000 varieties of bills. There was no central point to issue the currency. It was a simple process and it was all done by hand. The ink was put into a metal dye and it filled the recessed dots of the image. They would rub it lightly rub to take away the excess ink and then buff it. Finally, a press would print the bank note. Some of these steps are still used today. Now, the paper for bank money is made from discarded scraps of denim. It is sold by the ton. This material makes stronger paper that stays crisp. The cotton denim material cooks for two hours in a vat with chemicals to break down the smaller fibers. It is then bleached and stacked in sheets. It is given a watermark along with red and blue security threads for security reasons. The dyes then put a 3-dimensional image on the paper. It takes many small steps until the bank notes are finished and ready for printing. Some of the steps today are kept private to prevent counterfeiting of the money, so these steps were not shown in this program. The thread and the watermark on the bank note paper is what makes it different from other paper. Abraham Lincoln's image is on every note and in a low light, you can see his image. The Bureau of Engraving and Printing then finishes the process.

The Fed creates money and has 12 districts nationwide that monitor the money supply around the country. Today, notes require craftsmanship and cutting edge technology. Each day, 35,000,000 pieces of currency are produced at a value of $635,000,000.00 Skilled engravers are used to work against the sophisticated counterfeiters. Counterfeit $100.00 bills called 'super notes' were at one time the highest level of counterfeit bills. The Feds found out North Korea had a big operation that was producing these 'super notes'. It was difficult to shut down the operation because their government was involved.

With the invention of the ATM machine and everyone using credit cards and debit cards, transactions with paper can be a burden, but the it is believed that our money expresses our national identity and values - 'In God We Trust' and' Liberty and Freedom'.

The Lincoln Assasination

Abraham Lincoln was the first president to be murdered. Lincoln was a self taught lawyer, born in Kentucky. Abraham Lincoln once said, "A house divided against itself cannot stand." In 1860 Abraham Lincoln was nominated to be the candidate for President of the new Republican Party. He received a lot of hate mail because of his beliefs about slavery. Lincoln had three sons. He and his wife Mary Todd Lincoln were aware of the death threats and they were very careful about his safety. The first assassination attempt was to blow up a train Lincoln was on that was headed for Washington DC for his Inauguration. When they discovered the plan, Lincoln decided to take an earlier train. During Lincoln's time in office, he was not a very popular President. Lincoln wrote the Emancipation Proclamation. The Proclamation was about freeing the slaves and allowing them to fight for their freedom. The White House was not protected with a lot of security, the way it is today, so the President was more exposed to the public. Abraham Lincoln also liked to be free and walk among the people. He did not want to live in fear, even though he knew there were many people who wanted to kill him. Abraham Lincoln liked to go to the theater with his wife. One show that Abraham Lincoln went to see at the Ford Theater was 'The Marble Heart' which featured the great, John Wilkes Booth. Abraham Lincoln specifically liked the character played by John Wilkes Booth. On the other hand, we learn that John Wilkes Booth despised President Lincoln. He actually stopped acting to become a Confederate spy. He believed in slavery and disagreed with Lincoln's politics. John Wilkes Booth had a plan to kidnap Abraham Lincoln and would release him in exchange for Confederate prisoners of war (POWs). John Wilkes Booth started an Abraham Lincoln assassination conspiracy group. At the time, John Wilkes Booth used a boarding house owned by Mary Serrat, a supporter of the Confederacy, to hold his anti-Lincoln meetings. There was a disagreement among the conspiracy participants about the plans to kidnap Lincoln. The plan fell apart.

In April of 1965, the Confederate capital of Richmond, Virginia fell and Robert E. Lee surrendered, ending the Civil War. Lincoln gave a speech from the balcony of the White House about how blacks should have the right to vote. Those closest to Lincoln were not happy about his choice of location to give the speech because he again, was not protected and too exposed to the public. Soon after, Lincoln goes to the Fords Theater to see a show. Upon hearing that Lincoln is at the theater, John Wilkes Booth and the conspirators decide to not kidnap Lincoln, but to murder him instead. They also plan to murder, the Vice President, Andrew Johnson and the Secretary of State, William Senard. The murders are planned to take place at the same time so as not to draw attention and giving them easier access to the officials. The believed if they killed all three men, the political power would be weakened in the Union and the Confederacy could perhaps rise again. During the plays funniest moment, John Wilkes Booth opens the door to Lincoln's Presidential box and shoots Lincoln. John Wilkes Booth jumps down from the box and lands on the stage before running away. Lincoln is carried from the theatre across the street where he is unconscious for the next 24 hours before dying. Lincoln was 56 years old. The other two officials survived their attempted assassinations, one assassin chickened out and the other tried stabbing the official but he was too skinny and he kept missing! Lincoln's body was placed on a funeral train. David Harold and John Wilkes Booth, two of the assassins were on the run headed for Virginia when they were caught and shot. Orders where for them to be brought back alive, but one soldier decided to fire his rifle. John Wilkes Booth was 26 years old when he died. He was killed on April 26, 1865

Bud, Not Buddy

PLOT SUMMARY: I read the book Bud, Not Buddy by Christopher Paul Curtis. This book is about a boy named Bud Caldwell. Bud's mother died when he was very young, so now Bud lives in an orphanage. Bud has never met his father and he would love to meet him. His mother had given him a flier and he thought the fiddler on the flier was his father, but he did not know that for sure. One morning at the orphanage Bud gets sent away from his orphanage to a real family named the Amos'. Bud is afraid that the 12 year old son named Todd Amos will be mean to him, and he is right. One day Todd even sticks a pencil up Bud's nose. Bud tries to fight back as the parents come into his room and but Todd makes it look like he did not do anything wrong, so Bud gets into trouble and the next night Bud is forced to sleep in the dark and scary shed. That night Bud decides to run away to try to find his father. Bud believes that his father's name is Herman E. Calloway and he lives in the Grand Rapids because that is what it says on the flier. Bud is in Flint, Michigan and that is a couple of town over. He figures it would take about 24 hours to reach the Grand Rapids on foot, so he starts walking. While Bud was on his journey, at about 2:00 AM a man saw Bud and pulled over his car. Bud hid from the man because he was afraid to be seen and then get sent back to the orphanage. The man called to Bud and instead, he took Bud back to his house where Bud stays for a few days. After 2 or 3 days with the man and his family, the man takes Bud to Grand Rapids, because he said that is where his father lives.

Bud finally meets Herman E. Calloway, the man he thinks is his father. It turns out that they are related, but Herman E. Calloway is actually an 80 year old man and he is Bud's grandfather. He is the father of Bud's mother. Herman E. Calloway is not a very pleasant man and in some way, Bud is relieved that he is not his father, although he is happy to have found a true family member. Herman E. Calloway is also a musician. He is the lead musician in a band. Bud ends up living with Herman E. Calloway and his band at Calloway Station. One of the band members gives Bud a saxophone as a gift and Bud really enjoys playing the saxophone. It becomes one of his favorite things to do. At home, Herman E. Calloway is interested in hearing about what happened to Bud's mother, his daughter, because she ran away many years ago and he never knew of her fate. Bud had to tell his grandfather that his mother had died and Herman E. Calloway was very saddened by that news.

CHARACTERS: The main character in my book is Bud. Bud is a 10 year old African American orphan. He is very nice and polite. Many of the band members were surprised at how good Bud's manners are. I think that Bud is a very brave for walking all the way to the Grand Rapids at night. I would not be comfortable doing that

YOUR THOUGHTS: I thought that this book was great. I would recommend this book to anybody, and I think that you would enjoy it as much as I did.

7 READING STRATEGIES: One of the 7 reading strategies that I used is inferring. I infered that Bud would find Herman E. Calloway. When Bud found out Herman E. Calloway was an old man I also predicted that Herman E. Calloway was Bud's grandfather

AUTHOR INFORMATION: The author of Bud, Not Buddy is Christopher Paul Curtis. Bud, Not Buddy won the Coretta Scott King Award, given each year to a black writer for an inspirational and educational contribution to literature and the Newberry Metal, the most prestigious award in children's literature.

Secrets of Jamestown

PLOT SUMMARY: Jamestown was the first permanent settlement in North America, but the settlement almost didn't make it because the colonists were inept. In 1607 104 colonists were crammed onto three ships because the British had ordered them to search for new lands. Jamestown was considered the starting point of America. The British called the new settlement "Jamestown", after their king. Jamestown came to North America 10 years before the Pilgrims came over. The Jamestown colony's objective for the trip was money. Right away when the settlers reached North America, they ran into trouble with Indians and disease. Many people were dying every day from disease, war, but mostly famine. John Smith took control of the settlement and started to trade for food with the Indians.

Archaeologists extract from the core of the tree rings to learn about climate in Jamestown. Colonists reported horrible weather, so these archaeologists are just making sure that the colonists were checking to see if they were telling the truth. The analysis was that from 1606-1613 there was a severe drought which would effect the growth of corn and trading with the Indians. When Captain John Smith went back to Europe the Indians starved the colonists. During the starvation the colonists started to eat human flesh, horses and rats. Archaeologists preserved Jamestown full time. It took 10 years to vision what Jamestown looked like. Now they even know where some houses stood. APVA preservation Virginia's goal was to preserve Jamestown full time. In 1994 they dug and uncovered the foundation of three buildings. They were made out of mud and stud. They found many artifacts from life in Jamestown. They found a well outside the old fort. The colonists used this well for fresh water. While digging up the well, archaeologists found tools, armor, pottery, and more. All of the artifacts are analyzed and cataloged. To preserve iron artifacts they use a process called air abrasion. There has been half a million artifacts excavated so far. Archaeologists proved that colonists were busy, unlike Captain John Smith had said. In Captain John Smith's writings he had said that they were lazy They were busy digging ditches and building houses.

Archaeologists discovered a gravestone with skeleton remains. The archaeologists can learn the skeleton's sex, age and ancestry. They even can find out that one skeleton was killed by a musket. Forensic scientists can recreate a face. The face may take up to 100 hours to finish.

Archaeologists are always finding new things at the excavation site.

CHARACTERS: Captain John Smith was a character in Secrets of Jamestown. He was a lazy man, but he was a good leader. He made up lies about the colonist being lazy, but he was the real lazy one.

YOUR THOUGHTS: I thought the show was interesting, but too long. I thought it was interesting that the archaeologists could tell that there was a big drought in Jamestown just by extracting the core of an old tree. I thought that they added in too much un-needed infornmation also so at times it was boring.

The Classroom: Ben Franklin - Part 2

PLOT SUMMARY: According to this show, "Ben Franklin loved women and women loved him back". During the time period of 1776 to 1785 Franklin was in France. There are a lot of stories involving Franklin with women in France. One story was of Madame Brion. Madame Brion lived next door to Franklin and they developed a very strong relationship, privately through letters. It was like a father, daughter relationship between Franklin and Brion. He actually also had very strong relationships with 4 other women secretly, through letters.
Franklin was described as cold and aloof (distant) with his family. He had one son named William who was an illegitimate son. He also had another son named Francis, but they called him Frankie. Frankie died at 4 years old from the small pox and Franklin felt guilt for the death because he had not been there to support his son. Franklin also had a daughter named Sarah or Sally. Franklin was hardly ever with his family. He was away from his wife, Debbie, for 20 years of their marriage. The main area where Franklin failed in life was his family. One day when Franklin was away in France, Debbie, Franklin's wife, had a stroke. Debbie wanted Franklin to come home, but he did not want to go back home and so he stays in France. At that time Franklin had not seen his wife in 7 years. Franklin was not as distant with his son William. He actually had a strong relationship with William. They were even business partners. After working together for many years, there was a big conflict between the two. William decided to stay loyal to the England crown, but Ben Franklin wanted to fight for the American rebels. William's son, Temple, sides with his grandfather, Ben Franklin, and the rebels. Franklin cannot forgive his son, William, for not siding with him. Neither of them will apologize and the relationship was ruined. Franklin felt abandoned by his son. Now he lives with his daughter, Sarah.
When Ben Franklin was about 84 he started getting sick and he died. There were many people at his funeral. Ben Franklin was a big part America. He made the first political cartoon, was involved in the separation of church and state, reviewed and edited Thomas Jefferson's words for the Articles of Confederation, and arranged the Senate and House of Representatives.

CHARACTER: Ben Franklin was a very selfish man. It seemed as if he didn't care about anyone except for himself. He was a very self absorbed man. He was away from his wife for 20 years of their marriage and did not seem to really care about what his wife or children thought about him being away from them. When his wife got sick and had a stroke, he did not go home then to see how she was doing even though she asked him to come home.

YOUR THOUGHTS: I thought that Ben Franklin was stupid and smart at the same time. He was stupid with his family because he barely ever got to see them and he made no effort to be a good father or husband . He was smart because he was an intelligent man. He invented many things and structured much of the modern day America.

The Classroom: Ben Franklin

PLOT SUMMARY: Benjamin Franklin was always about improving himself. At 19 years old, he ran away from home. He went to Philadelphia and he had no money, he was broke. Benjamin was a hard worker. He was the type of person that would show up to work early. He also always made sure that other people knew he was a hard worker. Ben Franklin wrote Poor Richard's Almanac and it is filled with many proverbs that are still used today. Two of the many proverbs in Poor Richard's Almanac are, 'Eat to live not live to eat' and 'Early to bed, early to rise'. Ben Franklin helped shape modern day America. For example, he started a discussion group for young business people. This group started the first voluntary fire department and the first public lending library. Ben Franklin also started the first non-religious college.

Benjamin Franklin was very religious. He thought all religions were great. He was very understanding of different religions. He donated to churches and even built a synagogue. Benjamin Franklin was also a big inventor. He invented a new Franklin stove, bifocals and made new alphabet with new letters in it. Franklin also made music by playing water glasses. He invented a instrument that had crystal bowls on a rod and they spun. As they were spinning you would dip your finger in water and place it on the edge of the bowl. This was Franklin's favorite invention. However, electricity was actually Ben Franklin's biggest invention. Franklin retired at 42 years old after he invented electricity. He was the first person to use electricity. Franklin wanted to prove that lightning was a form of electricity. He became well know for this experiment. In the end, Franklin did not get any money for his inventions.

Ben Franklin fought in the French and Indian War. Because of the war, the British raised the taxes. Franklin did not fight hard enough against taxes, so he looked bad. When Franklin went to court, he was against the Stamp Act. The British ended up taking back the Stamp Act because of Franklin. Franklin got respect back from the people because of this accomplishment. Franklin helped edit and draft the Constitution. When America had to face Britain during the American Revolution, Franklin went to France and asked King Louie directly to pay for America's war expenses. He knew that the French people loved him and despised the British. King Louie agreed to pay for the war.

CHARACTER: Ben Franklin was a hard working and intelligent man. He had many ideas for inventions. Franklin not only had many creative ideas, but he also knew how to put his ideas into action. Franklin was a very hard working man.

MY THOUGHTS:Ben Franklin was a very smart man. He invented so many things. I was very surprised about that because he had a very busy life and I was amazed that he still had the time to invent all of these magnificent things. His inventions ranged from an instrument to electricity. Without Ben Franklin and electricity than I would not be typing on this computer right now!

Civil War Journal: General Joshua Chamberlain

PLOT SUMMARY: Joshua Chamberlain grew up as Puritan. He was raised with the "Do it!... that's how" attitude. He was a smart young man who even taught himself Greek so he could get into the Bowden College, the college he wanted for ministry studies. While studying in college he got to know his professor's wife, named Harriet Beecher Stowe. Harriet Beecher Stowe wrote Uncle Tom's Cabin, an anti-slavery book. She would have readings from the book and Chamberlain would come to the readings. This book had a big impact on Chamberlain becoming an advocate against slavery. He wanted to join in the fight against slavery. The College did not want him to go to war and have the chance of dying so they told him to go to Europe to study. Chamberlain was strong in his beliefs and he decided to go to war instead. During wartime, Chamberlain asks other soldiers questions about their journeys. He is interested in studying the military. When Chamberlain finally goes to war, he realizes what war is all about. It is about killing people. He does not like the thought of death but he gets used to it. He becomes a Colonel and he found excitement in this role. During a battle, Chamberlain was shot and some of his soldiers died. He lost the battle because they were outnumbered. He went to a doctor and the doctor told him there was nothing he could do for his bad wounds. Then Chamberlain went to another doctor who saved him, but the wound would never fully heal. He was in excruciating pain when he walked for several years. He also was very sad at the thought of having lost his men during battle. This was very emotional for Chamberlain and he always felt responsible for his soldiers. It is said that "he had the soul of a loin and the heart of a woman". Grant chose Chamberlain to attend the surrender at Appomattox. He was the type of man who did not see his enemies as evil, but simply men who were led incorrectly. Chamberlain had been involved in 24 battles in a four year period. In his later years he was the Governor of Maine for four terms. He was the President of Bowden College and had many writings. He once said, "Veterans are heros." He died at 85 years old.

CHARACTER: Joshua Chamberlain was a very loyal man who was a true gentleman and American. He loved his country and cared about people. He was a smart man who not only went into war but also learned about the impact of war. He felt compassion for soldiers and veterans and cared deeply for this cause. He even looked at his enemies as human beings, not as evil creatures. The person who impacted Chamberlain the most seems to to have been Harriet Beecher Stowe. She changed his life.

YOUR THOUGHTS: I think Chamberlain was an honorable man who was intelligent. I don't think many soldiers have studied war like Chamberlain did. He was an academic and a military man who gained the respect of others who knew him. His compassion for others was unlike other men of his time. I wish I got to meet Chamberlain because he seemed like a very nice and interesting man.

The Classroom: Abraham Lincoln

PLOT SUMMARY: During April, 1865, Abraham Lincoln made a speech that suggested a negro president. John Wilkes Booth was in the audience and didn't like this idea one bit. John Wilkes Booth makes a plan to assassinate Abraham Lincoln and succeeds. Abraham Lincoln dies. Now he belongs to the ages. This was the first time a president had been killed. The north was not very sad about Lincoln's because they thought he was to soft and easy on the south. Sherman (North) and Johnston (South) met to compromise an agreement on slavery and to end the war. Sherman made a proposal to Johnston to end the war. When officials find out that Sherman was meeting with the south, they got mad and said he went out of his league as a general. They said he is not a part of the political group. He is a military cabinet and he should not have been there. South rejected the terms of the contract and the war went on. Lincoln's casket was on a train and it went throughout many towns and people would throw flowers on the train tracks. Abraham Lincoln was more popular when he was dead.
John Wilkes Booth was captured while hiding from police and he was killed. After John Wilkes Booth was killed, Sherman met with Johnston another time and they come to an agreement. General Lee speaks to newspapers and spreads the news about a peaceful ending to the war. However, the North is still resistant. During the Civil War, over 600 soldiers were killed. General Lee was considered a traitor after the war but Grant spoke to the President on Lee's behalf and they decided to just make him promise to not fight anymore. The war did end slavery, even though the South did not want this outcome. In the end, it was Robert E. Lee who knelt down next to a black man in an all white church, to symbolize the end of slavery.


CHARACTERS: Abraham Lincoln was the the first President to be killed while in office. I like President Lincoln because he stood up for what he believed and his goal was accomplished. He was a tall man with brown hair and a beard. He sometimes wore a top hat. He was beloved by many following his death.

General Sherman went out of his way to try to stop the war. He secretly met with Johnston to try to come up with an agreement to show to the government. When government found out about his meetings with Johnston, they rscolded him because he went out of his ranking and he should not have overstepped his role. I like that Sherman cared enough to take a risk to make a difference for the sake of his country.

YOUR THOUGHTS: I thought Abraham Lincoln made a big impact on slavery. He knew the right thing to do in order to end slavery. I think that Sherman and Johnston, Grant and Lee made the right choice by meeting to try to end the war. There should be no reason why you should fight within your own country. It is important to show that these men tried to resolve matters through meeting together, not violence.

Crash

PLOT SUMMARY: Crash is about a boy named John Coogan, but every one calls him Crash. Every one except for Penn Webb. Penn Webb is a boy that is the same age as Crash and he lives on the same street as him. Penn moved to Crash's when they were about 7 years old and right away Crash didn't like Penn. He would always make fun of him and he liked doing it. Penn never really did anything about it. Instead he would just ask Crash to do things with him, even though Crash always brutally turned him down. As Crash and Penn got older Crash would still make fun of Penn, but now he had a friend to do it with. Crash's friend's name is Mike. Mike is just like Crash. They both have a passion for football and making fun of Penn. Penn joins the cheerleading team and gets made fun of. Penn gets tired of being made fun of and never smiles at Crash, like he had ever since he had met him. I think it is then when Crash realizes that what he is doing is wrong. He stops making fun of Penn and when his friend Mike asks him if he wants to steal Penn's turtle he says "no." When Mike does steal the turtle Crash gets the turtle back and gives it to Penn.



CHARACTER: The main character in Crash is John Coogan. Rather known as Crash. Crash makes a big, big change over the course of this book. At first he is a mean kid and he always makes fun of Penn. At the end he doesn't make fun of him and he actually protects him by getting his turtle back. I think that Crash will never make fun of Penn ever again and maybe they will even become good friends.



YOUR THOUGHTS: I thought this book was fantastic. I liked the plot and the way the author presented it was great.



READING STRATAGIES: I used connections in this book. I



AUTHOR INFORMATION:

Hatchet

PLOT SUMMARY: I read the book Hatchet. Hatchet is about a boy named Brian Robeson. Brian is stranded somewhere in the Canadian forest because he was on his way to visit his father when the pilot of his plane had a heart attack and died while they were in flight. Brian did not know how to fly a plane so he crashed into a lake and somehow survived the crash. Now Brian is alive, but he has no idea how to survive off the wilderness and all he has is the clothes on his back and the hatchet that his mother gave him before he went on the plane. Brian is not afraid of dying in the wilderness. He thinks that someone will come and find him very soon. Brian is very sour from the crash, but after a few days of just sitting in the woods Brian realizes how hungry he is. He looks for some food and finds berries. They look beautiful but don't taste as good as he had expected. He's just going to have to live with them for now. Brian Knows he has to build some shelter, so he does. After living in the wilderness for a while Brian gets tired of eating the same exact thing every day, so he decides to look for some more food. He finds a raspberry patch and is glad. During one of the nights, a porcupine comes into Brian's shelter and Brian throws his hatchet at it. The hatchet makes sparks and the porcupine shoots it's quills into Brian's leg which hurts Brian badly, but from that night he learned something very important. He realized that the sparks from his hatchet could ignite a fire without matches. It takes time for him to realize it, but after a while he gets it. Brian finds turtle eggs and he eats them happy as can be. One day a rescue plane flies over Brian, but it doesn't see him and just keeps on going. Brian catches a fish and is very happy. He catches many of them and has a big feast that night. Brian gets tired of fish and knows that he needs some meat. He has seen fat birds around, but they seem to blend in with the woods, so it is hard for him to shoot any with his bow and arrow. He finds a quick trick to catch them and he ends up catching a few. He is attacked by a moose and his ribs are very sore. There is a tornado a few days later and it ruins his shelter. The next day when he wakes up he spots the tail of the plane, which reminds him of the dead pilot and he says a couple of words for him. Then he remembers the survival pack in the plain. He builds a raft to get to the plane which is far away from shore then starts making his way to it. When he gets there he drops his hatchet in the water and realizes that without it he could never make a fire without it so he decides to get it back. It takes a few shots for Brian to get it back, but he gets it. Brian gets the survival pack and is amazed at what is in it. He is glad he retrieved it. When Brian is eating his meal from the survival pack a plane shows up and rescues Brian.

CHARACTER: The main character in Hatchet is Brian Robeson. Brian is a very devoted boy. He never gave up hope on being rescued, but then again that could be because he didn't know any better. Brian must have had a tough childhood with his parents being divorced and his mother cheating on his father ("The Secret").

MY THOUGHTS: I thought the book was amazing. I loved almost every part except for the end when he gets rescued. I thought it was the wrong time. I thought that right when he was about to give up on living then the plane comes and rescues him.

READING STRATEGIES: One of the 7 Reading Stratadies I used was mental images. Gary Paulsen uses a lot of description during his books, so it is easy to picture what is going on.

AUTHOR INFORMATION: I liked how detailed Gary Paulson wrote. I liked the plot of the story a lot. Many things happened to Brian that I didn't think would happen to him. Like the porcuipine attacking him. I do not know of any other books that Gary Paulson made.

Playing Without The Ball

PLOT SUMMARY: I read the book Playing Without The Ball by Rich Wallace. This book is about a 16 year old boy named Jay who loves to play basketball, but he is an average player. He isn't good enough to play on his school's varsity team so he gets cut. Beacause Jay loves basketball so much he joins the church league. In the end of the book Jay's team wins the championships.
Jay's parents are divorced. He used to live with his father, but when Jay got old enough to take care of himself, his father moved out to California without Jay and now Jay lives by himself. Jay does have one parental guardian. His name is Shorty and he owns the bar, Shorty's, where Jay works as a cook. There is a band that plays at Shorty's a lot. Jay gets to know the lead singer of the band. Her name is Spit. She is a laid back girl that takes drugs and just goes along with almost everything. Jay meets a girl named Julie. Jay falls inlove with Julie. He wants to ask her out and when he does Spit gets jelous and she acts like she is going out whit Jay. Julie gets mad and leaves the bar. Jay doesn't think she will ever come back, but she does and Jay apologizes. She accepts the apologie because Spit explained to her what had happened. Jay then asks Julie if she wants to go out on a date with him and she says "yes".

CHARACTER: The main character in Playing Without The Ball is Jay. Jay is a smart kid. I don't know about his grades, but he is smart because he doesn't get caught up in all of the drugs that are all around him. He could easily get away with it because he lives by himself, but he doesn't.

MY THOUGHTS: I liked the book, but i didn't love it. I think the author added in too much information that wasn't needed. I liked the plot a lot. Most basketball books are about the star basketball player, but this book is about an average player who didn't even make varsity.

REDING STRATEGY: One of the 7 reading stratagies I used was infrencing. I infrenced that Jay wouldn't make the varsity team. I also inferenced that Spit would get jelous of Jay because of Julie

AUTHOR INFORMATION: I have never heard of Rich Wallace ever before. I thought he was an average author

Forged By Fire

PLOT SUMMARY I read the book Forged by Fire. This book is about a boy
named Gerald. Gerald’s mother, Monique has a drug addiction. Gerald lived with Monique until one day when the police found out about Monique’s addiction. Gerald was too young to understand what was happening with his mother. He just thought his mother smelled the white powder and that was why it was on her nose. When Monique got thrown in jail, Gerald had no home, so he had to stay with his Aunt Queen. Aunt Queen was a loving and caring person. After a few years of living with Aunt Queen, his thoughts of his mother began to fade.
After many happy years of living with Aunt Queen, his mother suddenly came back into his life. She had remarried and much to Gerald’s surprise, he now had a new father (Jordan) and sister (Angel). Gerald liked his sister, but he doesn’t seem to fall for his new rugged, smoking father. Monique immediately asks Gerald to come and live with her once more. Gerald despises his mother because of what she has done to him and he says NO! He would never want to live with her again. Unfortunately, the day Gerald said ‘NO’, was also the day his Aunt Queen died of a heart attack. Gerald was devastated. Now Gerald has no place to live. The only place for him to live is his Mother, Monique's, house.

After a few weeks of living with Jordan Gerald finds out that Jordan is abusive to Monique and Gerald, but worst of all he molests Angel. When Gerald finds out about Angel he flips out with anger! Gerald and Angel have grown a special bond and he doesn’t want anyone making Angel feel uncomfortable or abusing her. Gerald tells his friend Robbie's dad about Jordan’s behavior and the dad contacted the police. Jordan is sent to court and he is sentenced to prison.

Life without Jordan is great. No one is abusing or molesting anyone. Gerald and Angel are happy until Jordan gets out of jail, on probation, and starts living with Gerald and the rest of his family. Monique is glad to have him back, but neither Gerald or Angel are happy. Angel is so afraid of him that she vomits almost every time she sees him. After a few weeks with Jordan living with them Jordan seems to have actually learned his lesson.

Gerald is on the Hazelwood basketball team. He is a great player and he enjoys the team because his friend Robbie is on the team aned he is a funny guy. After one of their games Robbie and 3 other kids on the basketball team went out to get a few beers and maybe hit the club. Gerald was asked if he wanted to join them, but he turned down the offer. During the car ride, the driver crashed into a wall while drunk and Robbie died. When Gerald finds out about Robbie, he is devistated.



One day Gerald goes to shoot hoops and when he comes back he doesn't like what he sees. He sees the house on fire and when he walks in the door he sees Angel crying in her room with Jordan with her. Gerald quickley realizes that Jordan is molesting her. Gerald can't believe his eyes. How stupid could Jordan be? He shouldn't be molesting her, let alone even be in the building. Gerald starts screaming at Jordan, but Jordan doesn't take him seriously so he just throws a punch and it knocks Gerald's head into the TV. Gerald is not a little kid anymore he can take a punch. Gerald throws back a punch, but misses and Jordan kicks him in the shin with his steel toe cowboy boots and then ran out of the house. It was then that Gerald realized that he couldn't breathe because of the fire. He wanted to just let the flames take him away, but he knew he had to save Angel who was unconsious. He grabbed Angel and pulled her through the door onto the safe hallway of the apartment where the firefighters gave both of them oxygen masks.

The Secret Life of Dr. Demented

PLOT SUMMARY I read The Secret Life Of Dr. Demented. This book is about a boy named Wesley. Wesley is very skinny and he is made fun of at school because of his weight. Wesley named Dr. Demented that all of the fans hate because he is one of the bad guys. Dr. Demented is so tough that he ripped off another wrestlers ear during one match. One day when only Wesley was training with Mr. Wheeler at Mr Wheeler's house, Wesley's dog finds a bag and pulls out a Drand his best friend Jimmy, who is fat, start weight training with their gym teacher, Mr. Wheeler, to get stronger. Wesley is a big wrestling fan. There is one wrestler . Demented mask and suit. Wesley then realizes that Mr. Wheeler is Dr. Demented. Wesley agrees not to tell anyone, but he breaks that promise the next day by telling Jimmy. Jimmy keeps the secret and does not tell anyone about Mr. Wheeler.

Mr. Wheeler then starts to date Wesley's mother. Wesley finds it weird that Dr. Demented is dating his mother, but he gets over it. One day, Mr. Wheeler and Wesley's mom invite Wesley to go with them on their date at the astrodome to watch some classical music. Wesley couldn't pass up an opportunity to see Dr. Demented dating his mother, so he agrees to go. During the intermission of the show Mr. Wheeler and Wesley go to the bathroom. There is a large line so there was a rush to get to the urinal everytime someone left one. Wesley got to a urinal and when he was done Mr. Wheeler started for it and a guy behing him said that it was his turn to go in a nasty voice. Mr. Wheeler did not want to start a fight with anyone so he stepped aside. However, the guy was looking to start a fight and said some other stuff and then went to throw a punch that Mr. Wheeler easily caught. Mr. Wheeler then jabbed the guy in the stomach which made him fall to the floor. Mr. Wheeler didn't want to start a fight, but that was the only thing that he could do. When Mr. Wheeler and Wesley got back to their seats Wesley's mom had found out about the fight and was disgusted with Mr. Wheeler. She demanded for Mr. Wheeler to take Wesley and her home, so thats what he did.

Wesley's mom hates that Wesley likes to watch wrestling. She hates the violence. There is a wrestlingmatch that is coning up. The match has Dr. Demented in it and if Dr. Dementeed loses then he has to take of his mask in front of everyone. If Dr. Demented takes off his mask everyone will know that Mr. Wheeler is Dr. Demented and the school will fire him, but if he doesn't take off his mask, the wrestling league will fire him. It's a loose, loose situation for Mr. Wheeler. Wesley gets tickets to go from his injured friend Jimmy and asks if he can go. His mother says no at first, but then Wesley offers to never watch wrestling ever again and she agrees to let him go. When they get there Dr. Demented starts to wrestle. He doesn't wrestle like he usually does neither does his apponent. They start amaeture wrestling, like they did back in high school. At the beginning the fans were booing because they were used to the chokeholds and the head slams, but now they were getting reversals and takedowns. After a while the crowd realized that this wasn't planned out. It was for real, so they began liking it and started giving out advice. After a while Dr. Demented pinned his apponent. This means that he does not have to reveil his secret identity. However, Dr. Dementeed took off his mask and headed straight for Wesley's mother. Wesley's mom was in shock. Wesley could hear some people in the crowd say hey thats my gym teacher. Mr. Wheeler asked Wesley's mom to marry her and said that he would never hurt anyone ever again. She said, "Yes."

CHARACTER My main character is Wesley. Wesley is a nice kid and he is a big fan of wrestling. He is skinny and gets made fun of at school because he is nerdy and skinny. The only reason why Wesley started weight training was to get big muscles, so he wouldn't be made fun of anymore. I think he is a little bit to conscientious about his weight.

MY THOUGHTS I thought this book was okay. I liked the plot of the story, but I think the author could have presented it better.

Heat

PLOT SUMMARY I read the book Heat by Michael Lupica. This book is about a boy named Michael. Michael is from Cuba. He came over to America on a boat when he was a young boy. Michael is an amazing baseball pitcher and he pitches for his Bronx little league team. He is the star pitcher on his team. His dream is to go to the Little League World Series in Williamsport, Pennsylvania. Michael is so good that another team questions his age. They believe Michael is older than he says he is and they ask for a birth certificate. The problem is that Michael does not have a birth certificate in the United States. Also, both of his parents have died and his 17 year old brother Carlos, is now secretly taking care of him. He and Carlos are living without their parents and since Carlos is under 18 years old, the way they are living is illegal. They are both worried that someone will find out and then, they will be separated.

Michael also has more on his mind. Michael met a girl at the baseball field. Michael likes her and her name is Ellie. Ellie is Cuban, just like Michael, and their fathers both sang a song to them about Misifuz the cat. One day Michael and Manny (Michael’s best friend) are watching the Yankees game on television. El Grande is the pitcher on the Yankees and he is Michael’s favorite player because he is Cuban. El Grande’s family is shown on the television screen during the game while he is pitching. The screen shows El Grande’s wife and two daughters. One of the daughters is Ellie. Ellie had never told Michael or Manny that she is El Grande’s daughter so Michael gets really mad at Ellie. The next time Michael sees Ellie at the field he starts yelling at her. Ellie walks away from Michael while Manny is trying to calm him down.

Michael feels really bad about yelling at Ellie and he wants to apologize to her. Michael thinks about how he could tell Ellie about how sorry he is and he comes up with a plan. His plan is to go to Yankee Stadium before the game and give a note to El Grande for him to give to Ellie saying that he was sorry and to call him. When Michael goes to Yankee Stadium to give the note to El Grande, all of the reporters and people trying to get autographs were around him, so Michael could not get his attention. Now Michael has an idea, he screams at the top of his lungs the lyrics from the song Misifuz the cat (the song that Michael's dad and Ellie's dad ,El Grande, sang to them). El Grande finally turned around and asked who was talking about mizifuz the cat. The group around El Grande was now silent as Michael stepped forward. Michael then gave El Grande the note that he had written for Ellie. El Grande nodded and then turned around and walked into the clubhouse.

The next little league game was the semi finals against the team that had asked for Michael's birth certificate. Michael was still going to all of the games even though he could not play. He would be the third base coach instead. During the middle of the game they were losing by a fair amount and El Grande, Ellie, Carlos, and two official persons walked into the ballpark. They were all headed straight for Michael. The game stopped and everyone was staring right at Michael. Michael was curious of what was going on, but when everyone got there he found out. El Grande had gotten Michael's birth certificate! Now Michael could play! Michael did play and he pitched his team out of the loss and they won!!!!!! Time for the Little League World Series!

CHARACTER The main character in Heat is Michael Arroyo. Michael is a really nice, harmless person. He is also an amazing baseball player. One time, a kid from another team was making fun of Michael saying that he couldn't play and Michael just ignored the boy. This showed that Michael is a calm boy.

MY THOUGHTS The reason why I read this book was because a lot of people told me that it was good and they were right. I thought this book was great. It had a really good plot. I liked how Ellie ended up being El Grande's daughter. I thought that was a good twist.

7 READING STRATEGIES One of the 7 reading strategies that I used was mental image. Mike Lupica's writing is very detailed and when it is detailed then it is a lot easier to picture the story, like a movie running in your mind.

AUTHOR The author of Heat is Mike Lupica. Mike Lupica also wrote the book Travel Team. Travel team was the #1 New York Times best-selling book. I plan on reading Travel Team sometime during the school year.

Slam

PLOT SUMMARY I read the book called Slam. Slam is about a young black boy named Greg who lives with his younger brother named Derek and his mom and his dad in the hood. He used to go to school in the hood (Carver), but then he transferred to a mostly white school (Latmeir).

Greg is a great basketball player. Greg's nickname is Slam because he can slam dunk like a superstar. Even though Greg is an amazing basketball player, he is not doing to well in school. His grades are slipping and he might get kicked off of the basketball team. It also seems like all Greg's parents do is lecture him about his grades. They don't really ever talk about anything except improving his grades.

Greg goes to the tryouts for his new school's basketball team. Greg ends up playing the coach of the team 1 on 1 and Greg wins. Now the coach has a grudge against Greg and he won't start him, even though he is the best player on the team.

Greg is also worried about his best friend, Ice. Greg and Ice go way back ever since Greg can remember. Greg is worried about Ice because all of a sudden Ice has a whole bunch of cash and Greg doesn't know how he got it. Greg has a theory that Ice has been selling drugs because lately he has been hanging out with some pretty well known drug dealers.

In the end of the book Latmeir ends up facing Carver in a big playoff game. Latmeir wins, so Ice and Greg have a party. During the party Greg talks to Ice about how he thinks that he is selling drugs and Ice admits to Greg that he is selling drugs. Greg tells him how he shouldn't sell drugs and Ice gets mad. They get into a physical fight. Unfortunately, Ice and Greg don't talk for the rest of the book, but Greg is told by Ice's girlfriend that Ice isn't selling drugs anymore.

CHARACTER The main character in Slam is Greg. Greg is a young black boy, living in the hood. Greg is a very caring person in this book. He shows that he is caring by his concern about Ice selling drugs. Greg really cared about Ice and Ice got mad at him just because he cared.

MY THOUGHTS I liked the book a lot. It is one of my favorites. I liked it because the plot was great. I also liked it so much because there was a lot going on all at once. When I was reading it, I never got bored.

7 READING STRATIGIES One of the 7 reading strategies that I used was text to world connection. I was connected to Greg a little bit because I love to play basketball and so does he. He was caring about his friends and I am also caring about my friends.

AUTHOR Walter Dean Myers is the author of my book. He is probably my most favorite author because he writes so nicely and detailed. I also like the plots of his story, they are very clever.

Hoops

PLOT SUMMARY I read the book Hoops by Walter Dean Myers. Hoops is about a boy named Lonnie Jackson who is really good at basketball. Lonnie is just another poor kid on the streets of New York, except for when he plays basketball. He is a great basketball player. Lonnie and all of his friends love to play basketball and they even have their own basketball court. One day Lonnie and his friends are going to the basketball court and they see a drunk man standing there. He says his name is Cal. Cal says that he beats Lonnie in a 1 on 1 basketball game, he will become Lonnie's teams basketball coach. Lonnie says okay, thinking he will crush Cal, but Lonnie ends up losing and now Cal is Lonnie's coach. Lonnie gets mad because he lost, but after a while Cal and Lonnie become friends. Lonnie's team enters a the big citywide tournament and they get to the championships. Lonnie finds out that some bettors want Cal to blow the game. Cal ends up playing Lonnie in the way end of the game and they end up winning. When the gamblers notice that Lonnie is in the game they take Cal into the locker room and stab him.Cal dies.

CHARACTER Lonnie is the main character in this book. Lonnie is an amazing basketball player. He is also really selfish in the beginning of the book. He acts like he is the best basketball player in the world. Then, at the end of the story he becomes very caring and unselfish.

MY THOUGHTS I thought the book was very good because every part of it had you wanting to know what was going to happen next. Whenever Mr. D or Mr. A told us to stop reading I would be disappointed because I wanted to read more.

7 READING STRATEGIESOne of the 7 reading strategies I used was mental images. I love reading Walter Dean Myers books (if you haven't noticed yet) because he is so descriptive. Whenever he introduces a character he says exactly what they look and act like, so you can picture them in your mind.

AUTHOR Walter Dean Myers is the author of my book. He is probably my favorite author. I love reading his books. I have read a lot of books by him like Monster, Malcolm X By Any Means Necessary, and Somewhere In The Darkness. I liked them all.

Malcolm X By Any Means Necessary

PLOT SUMMARY I read the book Malcolm X By Any Means Necessary. This book talks about Malcolm's childhood, growing up around unfriendly white people, and his adulthood, becoming a leader.

Malcolm's original last name was Little. The Littles were a very poor family. Since Malcolm was poor and black, he was the kid everybody picked on. Malcolm's family also moved a lot, so he could not get settled in one town. The reason they moved so much was because Malcolm's father was very involved with the Universal Negro Improvement Association (UNIA). The UNIA made a lot of white people angry and they would send death threats to the Little family, so the Littles would have to leave their home. The book says that since Malcolm was a little boy he had been treated unfairly by white people because of his father's work with the UNIA and just for being black.

One night Malcolm woke up because he heard his mother screaming. When Malcolm went downstairs, he saw his mother surrounded by police officers. Malcolm later found out that his father had been killed by a mob of people who pushed him under a trolley. This is just one of the many bad things that white people did to Malcolm's family. Other things include a robbery and someone setting their house on fire while people were still inside of the house (luckily no one got hurt or even killed).

Malcolm, in his teenager days, became a criminal. He was caught stealing a jewel and got sent to prison. Malcolm got a longer sentence because he was stealing the jewel with two white girls as his accomplices and even talking to a white girl back then was a crime.

When Malcolm got out of prison he learned his lesson not to steal. He decided to join The Nation Of Islam. Malcolm became very involved with The Nation Of Islam. The Nation Of Islam was a large group of black people that hated white people and were being taught to hate white people. It was founded by Elijah Muhammad. Malcolm helped Elijah Muhammad form many temples and he even ran one of the temples. Malcolm was having a few disagreements with Elijah Muhammad and he left The Nation Of Islam. Many people from The Nation Of Islam did not agree with Malcolm leaving and he started getting death threats.

When Malcolm left The Nation Of Islam, he took a spiritual trip to Mecca, Egypt. There he met the Prime Minister. When Malcolm came back to the United States he formed a group called the Afro American Unity which fought for equal treatment for all races.

CHARACTER Malcolm X was the main character in my book. I thought Malcolm was very passionate and devoted to his work, whatever work that he was doing. He also was very brave to stand up to white people like he did.

7 READING STRATEGIES In the book I used the important information reading strategy. There was a lot of information that did not really matter to the plot of the story.

MY THOUGHTS I liked the book very much because it was inspirational. I also thought it was a little boring from time to time. I found myself drifting off from the book and thinking about what I was going to have for dinner. I would recommend this book, but I wouldn't say it was a great book it was just a good book.

AUTHOR Walter Dean Myers was the author of my book. I love the way Walter Dean Myers writes. I have read other books by him and I have loved them also like Monster.