I just finished reading a book called Artemis Fowl: The Arctic Incident by Eoin Colfer.  I have already read the first one, and I thought it was pretty good, so I decided to read the second.

I will not give a summary this time, because #1, it would take too long, and #2, it I don’t want to give away what happens.

My teacher told me to create 1 synthesis question, and 1 evaluation question.

The evaluation question is:  How would you have handled Artemis’ dad being captured if you were Artemis and you couldn’t get help from the fairies?  Well, first of all, I would freak out, but that’s just me.  Artemis Fowl has the highest IQ in all of England, and possible the world, and he stays clam under stressful situations.  If I were Artemis Fowl, I would try to track where the email came from.  if that worked, I would take Butler, all my best weapons, including the ones I took from the fairies, attack the people who were keeping my father before they expected me, and escape with my father in a private jet or a helicopter.  That would probably be the easiest way, but not like something Artemis would come up with.  His plans are mostly complicated and smart.  If tracing where the email came from didn’t work, I would probable try to eliminate all the places it couldn’t be, and try all of the ones it could be, hopefully that wouldn’t take too much time.  Then I would proceed with the plan.

Here’s the synthesis question: How many uses are there for that compressed water extinguisher thing?  I know Artemis created a new use for it, filling it with his own blood, and shooting it to his father, so it burst on impact, so the bad guys who were holding him captive thought he was really bleeding, and the Artemis really shot his father, so they dropped him, and ran for the money.  I probably wouldn’t have come up with an idea that good, but I would probably use it to amaze my little brothers, or use it in a water fight to sneak up on somebody to totally soak them.  I would also take it when I go hiking, because some trails are really hard, and I don’t think i could take a very big water bottle.

I am reading a book called Eleven, by Patricia Reilly Giff.  I’ve read only the first four chapters, but so far, it’s really weird.

WARNING!  Spoiler!

So far, the boy named Sam finds a newspaper clipping that says he is missing, and he begins to wonder if he really belongs where he is now, with his loving family and friends.  He has flashbacks and dreams of memories of when he was really young, but he doesn’t know where those memories came from.   All of those memories and flashbacks include the number 11.  He can’t read very well, so he doesn’t know wht the rest of the clipping says.  He get someone from his class, to help him read it.  He is studying the medival age in school, and that same girl gets to work on a castle with him.                                                                                                  

I made some Text to text and Text to World connections.  One text to text connection I made was to the book Found by Margret Peterson Hadix.  Sam didn’t know where he came from, and was wondering if that was where he really belonged.  Chip, in Found, found out he was adopted, and began to wonder if that was where he really belonged.  One text to world connetion I made was that a lot of children go missing when a natural disaster happens, and may be still alive, but are sometimes are never found.  This background knowledge helps me because it helps me understand that Sam may have been seperated from his parents, and then Mack found him and adopted him, but some people still might think he is missing.

I am reading a book called Tentacles by Roland Smith.  It is the sequel to Cryptid Hunters.  My opinion is that it is a good book. 

I think there should be another sequel.  It does abrupty break off with a cliffhanger, so I think he will make another book.  Tentacals came out a few months ago, I think, so he would probably still be writing the sequel.  Blackwood has the two dinosaurs and he has Grace, so there would probably be a sequel when Wolfe gets them back.

I was really surprised that Grace decided to go with Blackwood.  I wonder what he would do to her.  When the book ended, it said that she would be like a spy for Wolfe when she goes to live with Blackwood, but as all the other people said, Blackwood is very persuasive.  He might be able to convince Grace that he is the good guy, and Wolfe is the bad guy.

I predict that when Grace sees all the rare and endangered animals that Blackwod caught, killed, and stuffed, she will try to call the police, and then Blackwood would get arrested, and everybody will know the truth about him.  At least, if I were writing the sequel, that’s what I would make it.  That is what would be a happy ending.  

I expected Blackwood to lie to all the reporters and tell them that Wolfe kidnapped his Granddaughter and get Grace back to him, but then again, they would probably decide that Grace belonged with Wolfe, because he is supposed to be her legal guardian because he is her father, but then again, he is on the island that isn’t subject to the United Stats’ laws except for taxes, but Blackwood is.  Well, I’m glad he didn’t tell the reporters.

Did the squid doctor guy learn the truth about Butch?  He was  a friend of Butch’s, and he probably would have been mad, hurt, or maybe they didn’t tell him.  I wonder how he got so stinky.  I know he works with squid, but he would have been able to take a bath and wash the smell out, and how would the smell stick to him in the first time?

How did the boat not flip over when the squid, other squid, and the gigantic sperm whale crashed into it?  I mean, I know the boat is pretty big and strong, but seriously, two sqiuds and a sperm whale?  Well, I guess it is a bit bigger than I imagined if it could have a pool big enough for a giant squid to fit in, and still have enough space for other stuff, but sprem whales are pretty big too.

I am reading Firestar’s Quest by Erin Hunter.  It is a really good book.  I have read it before, but the problem with Warriors books are that everything starts to meld together, and you can’t really remember anything from the previous books except the really big parts, and even those you can’t really remember the details.  For instance, I remember how Firestar lost his first life, (In the battle with Scourge) but I don’t remember how he lost any of his other lives except the one in the fox trap, even though in Fading Echos, he has already lost 5 lives.  So I am reading the whole series again to refresh my memory. 

One thing that surprised me was that Firestar took Bramblepaw as his own apprentice even though he looked a lot like Tigerstar.  He might have wanted to make sure Bramblepaw was still loyal to ThunderClan, despite who his father was.  I think Bramblepaw, well, now Brambleclaw is very different from his father.  Brambleclaw is fun loving and loyal, while Tigerstar was exactly the opposite; ambitious and a traitor to his birthclan.

I was also surprised that Firestar name Bramblepaw Brambleclaw because before Tigerstar became leader he was Tigerclaw.  I expected him to choose a different name that wouldn’t remind him of Tigerstar.

I wonder if Blackstar would be a good leader.  I mean, he is later in the books, but right now he just had to go through the death of Tigerstar, even though Tigerstar was evil, Blackstar might still think what Tigerstar was doing was the right thing.  He might be as ambitious as Tigerstar was.

I think Sandstorm is kind of weird.  I know she is Firestar’s mate, but when he first came, she hated him.  At first, Sandstorm was kind of like “He’s a kittypet.  He doesn’t have warrior blood.  He shouldn’t be here.  He will never make a good warrior.” but now she is kind of like “I love Firestar.  He is the best leader ever.  I want to be with him forever.”  now, that’s really weird.  She’s changing her opinion by a lot.  She went from hating him to loving him.

I am really sorry for Longtail.  He was also like Sandstorm.  At first he hated Firestar, but now he thinks he is great leader.  Now, he has to go blind because a rabbit scratched his eyes.  That’s really sad.  But how did he go blind?  His eyes were getting better.  He said he could see some stuff, but it was blurred.  His eyes hadn’t recovered yet, but when they had, he shold have gotten his sight back, not lose it altogether.

Ok, I know this doesn’t go with it, but I’m just thinking about it.  In the manga seris for warriors, Tigerstar’s tabby marking above his eye look a lot like really think eyebrows.  They’re really weird…

I just watched a TED talk by Adora Svitak.  It was a really interesting, and In totally agree with her.  Here’s the video:

I really think that adults should let us talk more.  My dad always thinks he knows more than me, and would rarely listen to me, and even when he does, he just says that I’m wrong.  Adults should trust us more, because, just as she said, we are the next generation, we will be controlling the world, when our parents get old.  Each generation should get better, but that can’t happen if we don’t get a chance to make it better.

Kids in many cases can be better than adults.  Kids don’t have big imaginations, but adults just think about what is good currently, and don’t stray too far from what is familiar.  Adults start wars and battles.  You never see kids arguing with each other.  That’s because kids don’t care what color they are, or what family they come from.  They care about what is inside.  If 2 children are friendly with each other, they will most likely become friends, no matter what ethnic group they come from, or what religion they belong to.  If two adults meet, even if they are both friendly, they might not become friends, just because of their ethic group, or their color.

When she was 4, she got her own laptop, I didn’t get my first laptop until just last month, of course, I might not be as responsible as her, but I wish my parents would trust me more.

Almost every single adult believes that a perfect, Utopian world where everything is free would be impossible, but kids still believe.  There’s a famous saying that says “When there’s a will, there’s a way.”  Kids have the will, now we just have to find a way!  You never know, one day, it might be possible.

As you might know, I am reading a book club book called Dragonwings by Laurence Yep.  Of course, if you haven’t read the book, this post probably won’t make sense, so if you haven’t read the book go read it, then come back.

If you are still reading this, it probably means you already read the book.

Something that I found interesting was that Shadow has never heard of cow’s milk.  When Miss Whitlaw gave him some milk, he thought it was “cow urine.”  I thought they had milk in the Middle Kingdom, or at least he has heard of milk.  I drink milk everyday, and I couldn’t imagine life without it.

One character that I really like is Miss Whitlaw.  She is what the Tang people call “demon” because she is an American.  They call all white people  demons, but Miss Whitlaw is very nice, and Shadow thinks she is very nice too.  She gave him milk and cookies.  Shadow likes her, and thinks she might have been his mother or something in a past life.  She has a niece name Robin, who is also likes Shadow.

I am going to make a prediction.  I think when Moon Shadow and Robin grow up they will get married.  They seem to like each other, but this is just a prediction.  I’m not sure.

I just wrote a sci-fi story about 2 kids who beam things out of the computer, but they also beam out some things that weren’t supposed to come out and are very dangerous… Do they get the things back in the computer, or do the things wreakhavoc on the world? Find out by here and reading my story.

I am reading Dragonwings by Laurence Yep for book club.

SPOILER ALERT!

So far, the book is about a boy named Moon Shadow who lived in China, but when his father calls for him from the “Golden Mountain” or, America, Shadow goes on a ship with Hand Clap to go to America, the land of the white demons.  The sailors on the ship are white, and very big.  Shadow thinks they are “Tiger Demons.”  When he arrives in America, he has to go through customs, before he can meet his father.  Finally he makes it through, and meets his father and his friends, also called the “Company.”  They go to the house where they would be living, and give Moon Shadow gifts.

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I have some questions about the book.  Most of the words they use don’t really match up with Chinese words.  They call themselves the “Tang” people, but in Chinese, it would be “Chong Guo Ren.”  The land of America, directly translated is not “Golden Mountain,” but “Beautiful Nation.”  This is really confusing.

Yep is a good writer.  He conveys the feeling of the Chinese going through customs, and the American’s feeling against them.  He also writes about how life was like for them back then  He puts it all into a fictional story told from the perspective of a young boy.

I am reading a book called Cryptid Hunters by Roland Smith.  It is a really good book. 

I am not going to give a summary this time, because I don’t want to spoil the book for those who haven’t read it.  I know I usually do, but not this time.  It is a really good book, and it would be better for you to read it yourself. 

I think this is a really good book.  It has action and a lot of Science-Fiction technology like the Gizmo, and the Cybervault to store things.  I like this book, but I still don’t think it is as good as the Alex Rider series.  The Alex Rider series has action, sci-fi, and, mystery.  Cryptid Hunters isn’t a very good title for this book.  Wolfe says that a Crypitid Hunter looks for Cryptids, which are creatures “who’s existence has never been proven.”

A few questions while reading: Why did Wolfe want to become a Cryptid Hunter?  It’s not a very good paying job, even though he owns eWolfe, a software company, to help fund it.  It is also a very dangerous job, and he might get killed.  He might really like animals, and he wants to find them to prove that they are there, so they an get protection from the law.  How did Grace and Marty’s parents just disappear, and where are they?  Their bodies weren’t found at the crash site, but all their things were still there.  I have 2 guesses to this question.  They might have been killed and eaten by a wild animal, or Blackwood’s men came and took them.