Historical Fiction: The Shark Attacks of 1916

Charlie 

July 2, 2014

Room 218

Mrs. Shaughnessey

The Shark Attacks of 1916

By: Lauren Tarshis

In July of 1916 sharks fatally attacked and killed four people and wounded one off the coast of New Jersey. Two of the attacks didn't even happen in the ocean, surprisingly, they happened in a creek 16 miles from the ocean.  

The story takes place in Elm Hills, New Jersey. The main character Chet Roscow is a ten year old boy who lives with his Uncle Jerry. Even though Chet has not been living in the beach town very long, he has made three friends; Dewey, Sid and Monty. The friends liked swimming in the nearby creek and pranking each other.

During this time people thought sharks were gentile creatures, however, local resident Captain Wilson said he had seen shark attacks while he worked as a whaler. 

One day while at the creek, Chet saw eyes black, beady as coal. While swimming to the shore, the shark scratched its teeth on his chest.  Nobody believed Chet when he said there was a shark swimming in the creek. Unfortunately, because of his prank, nobody believed him. He wanted to warn his friends before they went into the water. 

I can relate to Chet because we are both ten-year-old boys who like swimming with our friends. Like Chet, if my friend was about to get eaten by a shark, I would jump in and try to save them.



I give The Shark Attacks of 1916 4.5 stars.

THE COURAGE OF SARAH NOBLE by Alice Dalgliesh

Sarah is alone with her father, poor and in a small cramped house. Life is hardworking, light and dark every day. Sarah does not know if she cam make it through the hard labor. Read this book to find out.

Sarah is on conflict with herself. She is put through hard labor every day and the work is hard.

At the climax of he story, a miracle happens for Sarah. She is working and hires her. Sarah is beaming because she can buy clothes and food for her and her father.

This reminded me of me when I did chores and my mom started to give me an allowance.

RATING: ***

FOR THIS LAND By: Kate McMullan

This book is about a young girl named Meg, living in the 1850s in Kansas who went to go live with her
relatives on the prairies. It was a big mistake because there was a struggle against slavery, and Ruffians
were terrorizing the state! Not only that but, a devastating fire threatens their home.

The main character was in conflict with society  because a war against slavery was going on.

The struggle for Meg is doing what her family needs her to do in the new state, but wishing she was back home and gets worried that her father and uncle are in war to fight for a free state. Also, now that she lives far away from her home, she has to make new friends at  school.

Meg changed during the course of the book by being more mature and getting used to her new home (learning all of the chores she has) She cooks meals for everyone in the house, sews quilts for winter,
and cleans the house with her mother and aunt. Also, she helps looking for her uncle when he goes to
war but doesn't come back.

I can relate to Meg because we both dislike slavery and war, and we like school.

Rating*****

Maddy

MEET FELICITY AN AMERICAN GIRL by Valerie Tripp

Felicity has always liked horses, but when she meets Penny she likes them even more. After Felicity how bad Jiggy-penny's owner- she starts visiting her every night.  But when Jiggy catches Felicity trespassing to give Penny an apple, he forbids her to come back. He also keeps an  eye on her in case she comes back.

But Felicity is determined to help Penny, so she still comes back every night. Still not getting caught. Will Jiggy ever be nice to Penny? Or will Penny suffer though the rest of her life?!?!

Felicity is in conflict with another character. The conflict is that Jiggy won't treat Penny fairly.

Felicity changes by being nicer to Jiggy at the end of the book.

I could relate to this book because my sister's friend used to be very mean to her and now she is much nicer.

RATING ****

Audrey L

   

THE PRINTER'S APPRENTICE by Stephen Kringsly

The main character Gus is a printer's apprentice for Master Bradford. Together they print a newspaper called the Gazette. The Gazette has a challenger, The Weekly Journal. One day Zenger -the maker of The Weekly Journal- got arrested for putting something in the newspaper that offended the governor. Gus's friend Zach doesn't think that Zenger should have been arrested. A few weeks later, Zenger's layers didn't want to defend him. Zach writes a letter to a layer in Philadelphia and gives it to Gus to give it to the layer in Philadelphia when he goes. Gus gives the letter to the layer and when Zenger is in court he is found NOT GUILTY!

Gus is in conflict with Zenger.

Gus and Master Bradford were struggling to like Zenger, and put his arrest in the Gazzett, and help Zenger in court to prove him NOT GUILTY!

One time halfway in the book Gus helped Zach pull a little kid out of an old ice fishing hole. This showed that Gus  had more courage to do more stuff.

This book reminded me of myself because Gus was always confident to do things but scared at the same time.


Rating:****

Astrid

THE RAIDERS by: Jorn Reil and Helen Cann

Rane and his army are invading Leiv, Naura, and  Apuluk's new home.  The three kids are trying to defend their new home. Can they help defend their new home from the raiders?                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                           The main character was in conflict with another character                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                 The raiders were raiding the three teenagers new home                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                 Apuluk and Naura were rescued by a northern family teaching them that not all Northernmen were bad.  they all found their strength against the raiders and defeated them.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                     The three friends stuck together and protected each other when ever danger rose.                                                                                                                                                                                                              RATING****                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                

EARTHQUAKE By Kathleen V. Kudlinski

Philip discovers there is an earthquake. All of his horses got hurt and his father brought Philip's family to a safe place. Philip is left with no water and barely any food. Will he survive?

Philip struggled with letting his horses stay where the earthquake hit. His dad wants to leave the horses at their house so they could have a lighter luggage

Letting everything go for example, When Philip's dad got home and said they had to leave Philip didn't wan't to leave the house. But at the end they left.

He changed by getting over stuff. For example the house and the church and without his family living in a house.

When I was home alone I saw cops going to the air force and I saw smoke  everywhere. It was the Hanscom plane crash.

RATING: ****

Matt

THE WRECKERS by Ian Lawrence

    There was once a village bred from evil,These men, women and children prayed for ships to crash on their rocky shores, They  clothed themselves with and treasured their gather of the items in the shipwrecks.

Then John Spencer, his Father, and a ship crew ride the ship Isle of Skye after loading barrels in Spain, On their way to London, they see beacons after a devastating storm when they try heading towards it they end up crashing on the rocky tombstones. John Spencer survives the wreck and sees that his crew is murdered.Soon enough John Spencer finds his father is alive, he learn that the beacons they saw were false and what thought to be wine then thought to be gold, was sawdust all along. John discovers the real corpse lights and what lie underneath a cursed tomb, battles a legless man named stumps, sees the the man with no tongue named Eli, and meets many friends such as Simon Right-of-Wreck and Mary a nice trusted young maid who lives with Simon. 

John Spencer struggles with nature, society of the village, and of course himself.
The conflict is that John does not like the false beacons and other evil society of the village, and struggles in secrets he keeps and the secrets many people are not telling to that he need to find out, also he struggles at looking at the ship wreck souvenirs that people kept, he struggles looking at the tombstones. The most important thing he struggles in trusting other people close to him such as Simon and Mary.John made a big choice.
John changed a lot from the scared shy boy who had to be commanded by his father to a brave boy who would dare open the tomb said to have a curse, or to run away in the dead of night to rescue his father, To battle Stumps a evil legless man,to light a white phosphorous match with a smart strategy to defeat an enemy,to find out and defeat mysterious leader who made himself undercover by acting nice. 
John Spencer is brave and daring things like me,John Spencer has rode a horse which I have done many times too.

                                                                                -RATING-
                                                                                   *****
Aidan

VOYAGE ON THE GREAT TITANIC-THE DIARY OF MARGARET ANN BRADY by Ellen Emerson White

In this story, a young orphan-Margaret Ann Brady embarks on a journey across the ocean to New York.Although she is working on this trip Margaret can still explore and have some alone time. She also gets time to bond with her new "friend"/ crew member named Robert. One day when the air was cold, Robert came in with bad news. "Miss Brady-"Wait...  Margaret thought. He calls me Margaret. "Please proceed to the boat deck, immediately." This must be serious.

Margaret was in conflict with nature.

The conflict for Margaret was an iceburg because it sunk the ship and it took Roberts life.

RATING???

Allie

NUMBER THE STARS By Lois Lowry

The plot of the book is to help Annemarie's best friend Ellen. Ellen is Jewish and is likely to get killed by the Nazis. Annemarie's Uncle Hendrik sends her on a dangerous mission. She carries a basket of food in front of enemies through the deep dark woods.

The main character is Annemarie who is in conflict with society. The struggle was to save Ellen without getting caught.

Annemarie seemed to be happy and social in the beginning of the book, but in the middle of the book she was a bit more independent in order to save Ellen. Annemarie was pretty curious until Uncle Hendrik and her parents told her everything.

The middle of the book reminded me of when I was trying to keep my Halloween candy a secret from my mom. She found out eventually just like the Nazis.

Rating:***

~ Ellie

MEET KAYA by Janet Shaw

Kaya (main character) is a Nimiipuu (Nez Perce) native american, Kaya has a wonderful Appaloosa mare, Steps High.  Since he is so wonderful Kaya tends to brag. Then she gets into a bit of trouble.

Kaya is the character who is mostly in conflict with herself. Kaya bragged about her horse then she finds she has a race while she is supposed to babysit her brothers .

During the course of this book Kaya changes and is more careful about what she says about Steps High.
This book reminds me about a cousin.  He is an only child, he can brag a little.

RATING: :****

Audrey

MEET JULIE by Megan McDonald

Julie and her family moves a few miles away from their old home. At Julie's new school, she makes a friend named T.J. T.J. says that he will try out for the basketball team, and Julie wants to go with him. but the team is for boys only! Can Julie fight for a spot on the team?

Julie is in conflict with Coach Manley, the basketball coach.

Julie wanted to be on the basketball team really bad, but coach Manley says there is no girls basketball team, and girls can't be in the boys basketball team. Julie fights to get the spot, but coach Manley won't hear any of it.

In the beginning, Julie didn't want to move. She would have to leave her pet bunny and her best friend behind. but when she hears there is a basketball team at her new school, she doesn't mind moving. And first, when Julie makes a petition, she makes one and gets signatures right away. But when Ivy leaves her and isn't her best friend anymore, Julie rips up the petition.

Julie reminded me of myself, when I had to go to swim team tryouts to get a spot on the swim team. (I didn't get one).

Rating:*****


Angela

DUST BOWL MIGRANT

This book is about a dust bowl migrant from Oklahoma.  He is moving to California because of the Dust Bowl.  Him and his family are moving there to grow good crops and to survive the Dust Bowl.  California is a terrible place for people from Oklahoma.  People in California call people that come from Oklahoma "Oakies."

The main character is in conflict with the people in California and nature.

He was in conflict with nature because of the dust storms.  The dust storms brought down his roof, and are destroying the town.  The dust storms are destroying the town by flooding the town with dust, and by killing animals.  He was also in conflict with people in California because they are treating him really badly.  The people in California are doing things like pointing guns at his fathers chest.  His father ended up going to jail because he punched a guys who was yelling at his daughter.

I related to this character by the fact that he tries to be as nice as he can, and to be humble.  This is how I relate to the character, and to what I try to be.

RATING: *****

Ben

THE DIARY OF CLOTEE, A SLAVE GIRL by Patricia McKissack

Here are 3 or 4 main idea's

-She learns about writing & spelling plus learns her ABC's.

-Caroline couldn't tell anyone though about her learning...

-She wanted to tell m.z  Lilly,but she couldn't trust her she would tell everyone!

Her are the important Characters.  Caroline, m.z Lilly & her Dad.

The struggle in this conflict was when Caroline was learning  her ABC's and trying so hard to keep it a secret & if she told someone the whole Family would end up knowing.

The main Character changed by the end because she ended up telling the whole family and then felt good.

I related to this book by when i was 9 yrs I had a secret that I couldn't tell anyone but later on I ended up telling my mom and I felt very happy.

RATING: *****      

Lily 

A PERFECT PLACE: JOSHUAS OREGON TRAIL DIARY By Patricia Hermes

Most of the book they were in a very big wagon because of this horrible rain storm. They didn't really spend that much time at home. They had a very small home so they tried to find or build a new one. Since they wanted a new house they spent most of there time at the Motts house. The Motts house is very small to but they were very nice to let them stay there with them.

Joshua's aunt is having a baby and he really wants to help her but she doesn't him want to.

Joshua's aunt needs help but she doesn't want it but he try's to help her anyways.

Joshua's got help by Charlie to build the house for his mom and aunts too. Joshua's grandpa died so he got upset at the end of the book.

 I relate to Joshua because I got caught in a really bad rain storm too but not as bad as his.

Rating:***

I SURVIVED THE SHARK ATTACKS OF 1916 by Lauren Tarshis

Charlie 

June 2, 2014

Room 218

Mrs. Shaughnessey

The Shark Attacks of 1916

By: Lauren Tarshis

In July of 1916 sharks fatally attacked four people and wounded one off the coast of New Jersey. Two of the attacks didn't even happen in the ocean, surprisingly, they happened in at Matawan Creek, 16 miles from the ocean.  The story takes place in Elm Hills, New Jersey. The main character, Chet Roscow is a ten year old boy who lives with his Uncle Jerry. Even though Chet has not been living in the beach town for very long, he has made three friends: Dewey, Sid and Monty. The friends liked swimming in the nearby creek and pranking each other.

During this time period, people thought sharks were gentile creatures; however a local man, Captain Wilson said he had seen shark attacks while he worked as a whaler. Shark attacks had been reported, but most people thought they were just hoaxes.

Because Chet and his friends like to play pranks on each other, no one believed Chet when he said he saw two beady eyes as dark as coal in the creek. Chet was scratched by the shark’s teeth as he tried to swim to shore. He ran back to town and eventually convinced Captain Wilson and his friends to follow him to the creek. Sid was in the water when they saw the shark. Everybody got out except for Sid. Chet jumped in and saved Sid, but was bit in the leg and a chunk of flesh came off. Captian Wilson arrived just in time and with one gunshot saved Chet.

I think Chet changed in the story because at first he was pranking everybody but in the end he learned a valuable lesson about joking. I think Chet learned not to "cry wolf" anymore.  

I can relate to Chet because we are both ten-year-old boys who like swimming and playing with friends. Like Chet, I would try to save my friend if they were going to be attacked by a shark. 

RATING: **** 1/2
Charlie

A PICTURE OF FREEDOM By Clotee (unknown last name)

A slave girl named Clotee is fighting for freedom. Along with that, she makes some friends. Sadly, it involves death.

Clotee struggles with slavery in her childhood

The main problem for Clotee is that she wants FREEDOM not slavery!

Clotte changed from being shy to being brave. For example, she has stood up and helped her friends escape to freedom.

Clotee reminds me of Fredrick Douglass because he went through the same problems and got the same results

I would give this book a whopping * * * *!

                                          -Leo

MEET KIT BY: Mary Cassanova

The main idea of the story is when Kits father loses his job.  The family is worried that they won't have enough food to feed everybody . It's bad enough that another family is staying at Kit's home because the family doesn't have enough money to afford a house and they hope there is enough food!

In this story Kit is the main character.

The conflict (struggle) for the main character was that there was a new family staying at Kit's house and Kit doesn't like the idea of another family staying at her house but she tries to make friends with the little boy but that isn't easy because the boy is always sick and Kit finds it very annoying. So then she just gives up on trying to make friends with the boy.

Some examples / an example of  how the main character changed was at the beginning of the story Kit was happy that her father did not lose his job during the great depression  to disappointed that her father lost his job.

I did not relate to this character in any way.
RATING: ***

Amber

I SURVIVED THE TITANIC SINKING IN 1912 by Lauren Tarshis

This story is about a kid named George traveling on the greatest ship ever built the titanic.When the unthinkable happens the titanic starts to sink. Will George be able to make it or will he sleep with the fishes?

George during the book struggled finding his sister during the sinking of the titanic.

One of his conflicts is hes trying to make out

RATING: ****

Kai

JULIE'S JOURNEY by Jacqueline Greene

Julie has been riding on a carriage for the first time, her cousin April told her once she rides her car again she wouldn't feel the same.Julie and April went to many different pit stops but, suddenly her carriage got stuck in a hole while they were riding the carriage up  a mountain.They managed to get out but her sister Tracy had to leave her pioneer dress because it was too much wait and she never liked the dress anyway, but still she was meant to bring it and where it.In surprise someone brings her pioneer dress just in time for a party.

One conflict in the book is when Julie had a scroll signed by a famous person, it got stolen.

Another conflict for Julie [main character], was when Julie went on a horse with her cousin and went 10 miles for a signature from the oldest man in the country and, his ancestor signee d the Declaration of Independence.She convinced him to sign it but someone stole it after she got it done.Soon Julie finds out who stole the scroll and becomes a hero.

One change on the main character is when Julie rode a horse named Hurricane because she always wanted to didn't turn out so well.The reason why is because Hurricane went to fast and Julie fell of luckily she fell in a pond everything was fine except her shoulder for bumping into a rock.She told April she was never going to ride Hurricane again but she actually towards the end of the story.

The story reminded me when I rode a horse for the first time, the horse was very fussy and i didn't know that.Soon when I was riding her the horse tried to push me off her back.

RATING: *****