AN ELEPHANT IN THE GARDEN by Michel Morpurgo

The main idea in the story is war. It's war because many things happened in war like fire, bombing and others. In the fire and bombing people were being killed and badly hurt it was torture, but they were the last people to be hit for the bombing. It was a disastrous for what had happened to the poor town. Lizzie was the character that had struggled (real name is Elizabeth) and she was against society. Lizzie was in a big war, her dad was fighting in the war and he hadn't come back and they hadn't had a letter saying he was dead or killed.

They started to bomb her town and they were trying to find their elephant but they couldn't find her and mutti was upset. But then they decided to move on away from the death zone.

Lizzie changed because the elephant meant a lot to her mum. Lizzie also had to change because if she said she was from her country they would kill her if said or found out. Elizabeth is a old lady in care not a child anymore. My character relates to me because my grandad's parents or grandma and grandpa were fighting or in the house when war was going on.

RATING: *****

Olivia

THE JOURNAL OF WILLIAM THOMAS EMERSON by Barry Denenberg

William  Emerson had a normal colonial life until one day when a thunderstorm rolls along and lightning strikes the house melting the bowls onto the table and incinerating his family. Then he meets a man named Mr. Heath who gives him to Mr. and Ms. Marsh. A few years later  he runs away to the Seven Star Tavern and soon finds himself caught in the revolutionary war.

The main conflict was all of the English army or the "red coats".

The main character became much braver because he spied on suspects of the British army and cut a British officer to the death.

I would give this story *****.

Alex

THE JOURNAL OF PATRICK SEAMUS FLAHERTY by Ellen Emerson White

Patrick Seamus Flaherty is fighting for his life in the war of Vietnam. He makes some friends and some got eliminated! Will Patrick survive or be dead?

Patrick struggles against society.

When the NVA start shooting mortar rounds at the U.S. soldiers and most get eliminated! They get a lot of cuts and really bad injuries. They think of an idea that saves some of there lives!

At first Patrick was a little bit scared to go to war. After awhile the mortars and ambushes start and he gets scared and wants to go back home safely but he cant go home yet!

I know what its like to be really scared and worried. It can really be annoying and its like you can't forget about it.

Rating: ****

Nick

SCRAPS OF TIME 1960 by Patricia C. McKissack

This book is about Abby, she protested against segregation. Also her dad died of a rail road accident.       Her mom and almost every one she knew stood beside her to protest.

Abby was in conflict with segregation.

Society split up whites and blacks, and all blacks couldn't go some places.

 Abby matured little bit because they were doing a sit in she thought it would be easy but it wasn't so she stopped goofing around and started acting like a grown up.

She reminded me of my mom because she's always serious.

RATING: *****
Stefon

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

MY SECRET WAR by Mary Pope Osborne

The plot of the book is a military girl living with her mom when her dad is in the military. And changing schools all the time. Madeleine and her mother are always worried about her dad.

The main character of the book is Madeleine beck she struggled by all ways having to go in to new schools and make friends.

The conflict is she was worrying if something happened to her dad and if he was ever coming back  and if he got hurt during the war.

At the beginning of the book she had no friends and wasn't able to make friends but then at the end of the book she makes so many friends. At first she had no job and was only caring for her self but then she was working for the red cross.

My moms dad was a Lieutenant Colonel and my mom would be away from her a lot so she would just live with her mom and siblings. When she went to new schools it was hard for her to fit in.

RATING: ***

Jillian

THE SHIPWRECK By Jorn Riel

    Leiv finds out that his father was killed. Than Leiv go's on board another ship and that ship sinks. Than Leiv drifts to a beach in Greenland and Narua and Apuluk find him.

 Leiv is angry at the person who killed his father.

Leiv changes by surviving in the wild and understanding Apuluks language

Leiv tarted to understand and talk the natives language. He also didn't miss Iceland anymore.He also makes peace with the person who killed his father.

RATING:  *****

Elischa

BEAUTIFUL LAND by Nancy Antle

The plot is Annie Mae and her family live in a house that is a rock in the side of a hill. They  are moving to Oklahoma where there cousins live. Annie  Mae learns about the new land Oklahoma .

The main characters are Annie Mae and her brother Dan.

The conflict was when they were moving they took a carriage and they kept running in to mud and bad weather. 

Annie Mae changed by thinking it would be bad to move to Oklahoma because she would lose her friends,
but once she got there she was having fun with her cousins and new friends.

Also Annie Mae's father changes because he thinks his brother is annoying but in Oklahoma he has fun with him and now he thinks he is great.

I related to this characters struggle because when I went to Arizona the flights were delayed because weather.

RATING: ***

Willy

BEN & ME an astonishing LIFE of BENJAMIN FRANKLIN By His Good Mouse AMOS Discovered, Edited & Illustrated by ROBERT LAWSON

David 
Historical History Reading Book
6/2/2014

HISTORICAL FICTION: 

BEN & ME an astonishing LIFE of BENJAMIN FRANKLIN By His Good Mouse AMOS 

Discovered, Edited & Illustrated by ROBERT LAWSON

This story was discovered after an architect had renovated an old house in Philadelphia. The architect found a small room behind a wall with a small desk, leaves to write on and a manuscript with writing on it.  Robert Lawson was given the manuscript and he published the stories told by a mouse that claimed to be Ben Franklin's best friend.

     The story is told by a mouse named AMOS he lived in Benjamin Franklin's House.  He slept in an old hat that Ben Franklin wore it had a whole in the middle of it so AMOS could sneak into the hat and sleep.  It was the perfect place to sleep because it was nice and warm.  

PLOT:     

In the book , two tour groups were visiting a statue of Benjamin Franklin one group was made up of humans and the other a bunch of  mice. The human tour group talked about Ben Franklin's life and all the things he invented, and the leader of the mouse tour group told the story of a mouse named Amos and how he helped Ben Franklin come up with all the ideas for his inventions.

In 1745, Amos, the oldest of twenty-six brothers and sisters lived in a church in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.  AMOS decides to leave his home and find somewhere to work.  After looking for work for a long time it was getting dark and started to snow so AMOS looked for someplace to get warm. Amos makes friends with Benjamin Franklin, and AMOs helps him write, make new inventions and be a leader in politics.  Amos helped Ben Franklin invent bifocals, the wood stove and make a news paper. AMOS gets mad at Ben Franklin when they were trying to invent electricity AMOS got caught in the kite and was scared for his life so he left Ben Franklin's house and moved back home with his family.  Ben Franklin was very sad without AMOS to help him.

For a long time they would not see each other until Ben Franklin is sent to England to talk with the king.  The king did not want to listen to Ben Franklin and they did not end up talking.  The people in the colonies were mad because Ben Franklin did not talk with the king and he needed help.  AMOS decided to help him and they became friends again.  AMOS helped Ben Franklin and he helped Thomas Jefferson write the Declaration of Independence. 

CHARACTERS IN THE CONFLICT:

The two main characters in the conflict were Benjamin Franklin and AMOS the mouse. The conflict was character against character.  They were both strong-willed and had a hard time getting along.  AMOS left and didn't come back for a long time.

The conflict with AMOS was also Character against Society.  He had to go to work to help his family.

CONFLICT:

AMOS has a conflict because he is the oldest of all of this brothers and sisters and he has to go and get a job to help the family.  He leaves his home and struggles through the winter storms (Character vs. Nature).  Then he finds a place to live and helps Ben Franklin invent all kinds of things.

AMOS and Ben Franklin got into a fight and AMOS left and they did not see each other for a lot of years.  (Character vs. Character)

Ben Franklin was a leader in the colonies and he came back from England and did not talk to the king.  The people were mad at Ben Franklin and he needed help (Character vs. Society)

Character Change:

When they start the story Ben Franklin is not able to finish any of his writing because he would sneeze and loose his glasses.  Then he would put his pen down to get the glasses and when he was ready to write again he would start sneezing again.  He never finished anything.

By the middle and end of the story Ben Franklin was inventing all kinds of things, writing a book, and was helping to free the colonies from the kings rules.

When they start the story AMOS is the oldest of 25 brothers and sisters so he follows along with everyone and does not do anything different. When AMOS leaves and finds a new place to live he does things that his brothers and sisters have never done.

By the middle and end of the story AMOS does a lot of great things and becomes a famous mouse.  He helps his family and Benjamin Franklin. He becomes independent and he is very smart.  He helps with making inventions and writing books with Benjamin Franklin and he is happy.

RELATE TO CHARACTER:

I was able to relate to Ben Franklin because I know we think the same way.  He has trouble focusing and finishing stuff and I do too.  He is very smart and I am too. It can be frustrating when you know the answer or what you want to write and your brain just doesn't want to let it out or put it on paper.  When AMOS comes Ben Franklin gets the help he needs to finish things and write things down just like I have been able to do with the help from my teachers.

I can relate to AMOS because I am the oldest and I have to take care of my little brother too.  That is a big job.  I am glad I don't have 25 brothers and sisters to take care of.  

RATING:   *** 5 stars**  I liked this book I learned a lot about Ben Franklin and all of his

                            inventions.

Labels:

Room #218

Historical Fiction

Author:  Robert Lawson

Other books by Lawson:  MR. REVERE AND I; EDWARD HOPPY & JOE; RABBIT HILL; 

                                              THE TOUGH WINTER; and THEY WERE STRONG AND GOOD

"THE STARVING TIME" by Patricia Hermes

Elizabeth (a 9-year-old Jamestown immigrant) and her Colony, Jamestown have run out of food.The "Indians" are killing the men who guard the fort she lives in.There is a boat coming to Jamestown with her twin brother Caleb aboard plus lots of goods like food. But there is a chance that the boat will crash or be shipwrecked. Will the boat come or will she starve find out in,"The Starving Time."

The main character struggled with just getting her basic needs like food or water because when someone went out to go get some food they usually died.The main character changed by starting to grow up she fed the baby and cleaned most of the time when she was well.

It reminded me of my mom because when she was 9 or so she was cooking and doing the laundry.

RATING ***** it was so interesting and you couldn't really predict when someone would fall sick because there were just random outbreaks.

Colin

MY BROTHER'S KEEPER BY Mary Pope Osborne

Ginny is trapped in a town called Gettysburg . Every thing is normal until one of the biggest war is going on in her town. It is the Civil War. She has to hope she will be safe when the battle is surrounding her.

Ginny is the main character another character is Uncle Jack. He helps her by letting Ginny stay with him.

The struggle for the main character is that there is a big war going on in her town. Will she survive?

Ginny's emotions changed during the book. In the beginning and the middle she seemed kind of freaked out about the war. At the end her emotion's changed she seemed a lot more relaxed now that every thing is over.

I did not relate to Ginny but I kind of felt her pain it must be scary having a war going on around you.

RATING: ????

By Bella

MEET ADDY(book 1) by Connie Porter

The Plot: Addy and her family are slaves and her aunt and uncle are living as slaves too.She has a older sister and a 15 year old brother. Some days her and her family struggle to get through the day. Her mom and dad have a dream to get away.But will they get away?

Addy struggles against slavery.

Addy struggles to get through living as a slave with her family working as slaves and being beaten up.

Addy changed during the book because at the begging she was hurt and beat up towards the end she was happer.

I related because sometimes  am sad but the next day I am happier

ratting *****

AFTER THE RAIN: VIRGINIA'S CIVIL WAR DIARY by Mary Pope Osborne

Ginny was a ten-year-old girl who lived in 1864-1865; she was a poor girl that lived with a poor family. In the story, she learned to fight agent's envy and hatred. then President Lincoln got shot and her aunt Ellen Jane had a baby and named it Abraham Lincoln Dickens. By the end of the story, Ginny gets over her envy and her father gets a job.

Ginny's conflict was her envy. She lived with a poor family with two sick family members and she was full of envy and meanness.

The main character Ginny changed throughout the course of the book. At the beginning she was full of envy because she was sick of being poor her whole life and her family members are sick. At the end of the story she changes because she realized she was full of envy and she started being nicer and she got a job so she could help fund her family.

I didn't relate to the character and I don't really know any one but in some movies people are very poor.

RATING: *****

Sophia

THANKSGIVING ON THURSDAY by Mary Pope Osborne

Jack and Annie go in their magic tree house. They travel to the time of the Pilgrims to solve a riddle. They celebrated the first Thanksgiving with adventures along the way.

Jack Annie and Percilla have to solve a riddle.

They learned more about the first Thanksgiving.

I related to this book because I spend Thanksgiving with my family.

RATING:*****

Andrew

A SURPRISE FOR CAROLINE by Kathleen Ernst

Caroline thought that having two girls at her house - her cousin and her friend - would be fun, but it turns out it's hard to have fun with two girls who are older than her. What happened was that the girls kept bossing Caroline around and that made her make bad decisions.

Her struggle as that Caroline didn't like being younger than her friend and her cousin. She didn't listen to them when they gave her warnings about going out on the thin ice and she ended up on an iceberg. Then at the end she realized that she might have hurt other people too, like her friend and her cousin.

I relate to this because like her I had stugles with my frieds and family too.

RATING: *****
Lexi

I SURVIVED THE SINKING OF THE TITANIC (1912) by Lauren Tarshis

This book is about a boy named George and his sister Phoebe, and Aunt Daisy. George always gets into trouble and doesn't try hard in school. George is on a vacation on the Titanic (the greatest ship ever built) when they hit an iceberg and the ship starts to sink. What will happen next? Read it to find out.

The main character is George, whose conflict is surviving the sinking of the Titanic in 1912.

George changes throughout the book because he cares for someone else besides himself. He went went from being reckless to being not so reckless, like trying to outsmart the scar-faced man instead of fighting him.

I related to this character because i went on an adventure once and got lost in the woods!

RATING: *****

Max

GEORGE THE DRUMMER BOY by Nathanial Benchley

The book deals with the battle of Lexington. George, who is a soldier, is the main character. The battle began with two lights in a church. At the end of the book, Fred, George's friend, got shot by one of the minutemen. Fred was okay, and they were glad that the war was over.

The most exciting part was when George's best friend Fred got shot by a minuteman.

I would recommend this book to boy ages 8-15 years old

RATING: ****

Joel

THE JOURNAL OF SEAN SULLIVAN, A TRANSCONTINENTAL RAILROAD WORKER, NEBRASKA AND POINTS NORTH 1867 by William Durbin

 

 This is the story of a fifteen year old railroad worker named Sean, who is working on the transcontinental railroad. He is working there with his father from 1867-1869. Sean wants to continue being promoted so he can become a spiker who pounds in the spikes to the rails. The railroad's goal is to beat another railroad from Nebraska to Utah. The story tracks sean's adventure on the transcontinental railroad.

The scariest part was when Sean was in his bed, and almost got shot by a Native American.

I would recommend this book for boys eight-twelve years of age.

RATING:****

Michael

FARMER BOY by Laura Ingalls Wilder

This book is about a young boy named Almanzo who lives on his parent's farm in New York state. Many problems face Almanzo, such as farm work and cold weather. Bad things happen, but good things happen also. It is a story about his childhood, growing up, and facing challenges.

My favorite part of the book was when the mean big boys got whipped badly by Almanzo's teacher, Mr. Corse and they ran away. I was happy because the boys were finally punished.

I would recommend this book to both boys and girls who are ages 9-12 .

I rate this book ★★.

Shun

BARNSTORMERS by Loren Long and Phil Bildner

First of all Griffith and his brother and sister love baseball!On the night of their fathers funeral uncle Owen told Griffith something. the mom and Griffith and his brother and sister get to travel with the Travlen Nine.But one day they realize somethings wrong because they are the only people seeing trains!The saddest part was when Griffith gram and Ruby might never see their uncle again .



 might never see their grandfather again. this is a good book for girls and boys 9-10.
RATING
*****
sabrina