Bristol Bay Summer

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Bristol Bay Summer, by Annie Boochever, is about a girl named Zoey who is forced to live in Bristol Bay, Alaska for the summer. The day after they got there Eliot her brother woke up sick. Thomas, the son of the lady they were working for, drove them in a skiff to the nearest hospital. Zoey worked for Thomas's family the whole summer, picking fish from a net. Zoey's mom and Patrick flew to Dillingham one day, and while they were gone a Japanese Typhoon hit. With winds of 70 miles per hour it blew their tents up. Zoey and Eliot were stumbling along trying to reach Thomas's camp. Instead they reached the old boat they had found when they had first gotten here. They took shelter inside the boat and eventually fell asleep. When their mom got back, they decided that since everything that was in their tents were strewn everywhere, they should just go back to Anchorage. Patrick and Zoey were just going to stay for the rest of the season. When Patrick got back from dropping Zoey's mom and Eliot off in Anchorage, he and Zoey took a load of salmon to Dillingham. On the way Patrick's plane started to break down. The engine stopped working and the plane went down. Zoey saved them both and they were picked up and brought to the hospital. When they were well enough to leave they finally went back to Anchorage.

I think that one of the main themes of this book is to never judge a person before you get to know them. An example I have of this theme, is when Zoey first meets Thomas, "The only other kid out here and he's either suck up or weird" (50). He actually turns out to be a very nice person at the end of the book. My second example of this theme is when Patrick and Zoey are at the hospital after the crash.  Ever since her mom had met Patrick, Zoey hadn't liked him, but now her thoughts have changed. "There it was again: your dad. But for the first time, Zoey didn't feel like correcting her" (232). My last example is when Zoey realizes that her life is a lot better than she thought it was. "Zoey realized then and there that her mom was right. Patrick, Eliot, Lhasa, and her mom were as close to a real family as she had. And the truth was, things could be a lot worse" (243). These are three examples of why I think that a main theme in this book is to never judge a person before you know them well.

  As shown in the title, this book's setting is Bristol Bay, Alaska.  "You won't believe where I am. Bristol Bay, Alaska" (85). She had to haul fish all summer in the remote Bristol Bay. She learned lots more about the "Wild Alaska" and actually enjoyed it there more than she thought she would. "I'm finally back home again. It has been an amazing summer" (244). At the beginning of her summer, Zoey was unsure about Bristol Bay, but by the end, she didn't want to leave.

    I would definitely recommend this book to other readers. I thought that it was a very inspiring book over all, and that lots of different aged readers would enjoy it. This book is very well written, Annie Boochever did a great job making it feel like you were in Bristol Bay with Zoey. These are some reasons why I would recommend this book to other readers.

    Some awards that Annie Boochever got on her book Bristol Bay Summer are The Mom's Choice Award, and the Literary Classics Seal of Approval. Her book also got selected for the Children's Book Council Seasonal Showcase. I think that she definitely deserved these awards.

Learning to Ride a Bike

By Audrey Saiz

The sky was a light blue with patches of white clouds, my favorite. With my bike below me, I was looking ahead at the long concrete road. The rain from this morning was still new on the ground, putting off a fresh smell. Feeling the small rubbery handle bars of my bike underneath my hands, got me even more excited to ride the bike.

“Ready?” Dad said.

“Um… Sure,” I said.

“Okay let’s go!”

He grabbed onto the back of my seat, and started walking.

“Don’t let go Daddy!”

“I won’t!”

“You can do it Audrey!” my mom yelled.

She was sitting on our porch, watching me and taking some pictures.

“Careful on that turn. Remember, you need to keep pedaling, lean with the turn, and don’t let go of the handlebars,” my dad said.

“Okay.”

My dad had told me that so many times, and I still hadn’t figured out how to do it. Other people made it look so easy, but I fell every time.

 “Okay, here we go!” he said when we got to the treacherous turn.

“Dad! Why’d you let go?!”

“You’re fine,” he said.

“No I’m not.”

“Just keep those legs moving.”

“K,” I said, concentrating with all my might on the ground ahead of me. Woah, I thought. The bike was wobbling underneath me and I started to panic. “Ahhhh!” I screamed.

The bike hit a big rock and fell to the side.

“Ouch!” Looking down at my knee, I saw a cut that felt like it was 10 times as bad as it really was.

“Daddy look at my knee!” I said almost in tears.

“It’s alright, come on up you go. Let’s grab a Band-Aid for that,” he said, starting towards the back porch, with me limping along at his side.

My mom was coming down the stairs already with a Band-Aid in her hand. She sat me down on the couch and put it on my knee.

“There, all better,” she said with a smile.

“Okay, you ready to go again?” my dad asked.

“Um… ok,” I replied uneasily. I wasn’t ready to get cut again.

We walked back to where my bike was. I picked it up and took a deep breath.

“And… go!” my dad said.

This time he gave me a push on the back of the seat.

“Dad look at me I’m doing it!”

“Nice Job!”

Coming up on the turn I took a deep breath, here I go, I thought.

“Remember to lean with it!” called my dad.

Yes! I thought. I finally did it!

When I got back to where my dad was standing, he told me good job. We walked back to my porch where my mom was sitting. She jumped up and hugged me. That day I learned how to ride a bike, and that even if things are hard I need to keep going. To this day I always have this lesson in my mind.

The Lions of Little Rock

    The Lions of Little Rock, by Kristin Levine, is about a

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twelve year old girl named Marlee, who lives in Little Rock, Arkansas, in 1958. She's a quiet girl who loves math, but hates to speak her mind. Sometimes, when she is having a hard time speaking she will count the prime numbers in her head and it helps her talk. In Little Rock, in 1958, the schools are segregated. High schools in Little Rock have closed because people have been caught "passing for white",which is when you are actually African American, but you pretend that you're white. Her older sister Judy is in high school so now she can't go to school. She says that Marlee needs to find a friend that enjoys the same things she does, then maybe that will help with her quietness. She does find a friend, they have so much fun together, and Marlee can speak more confidently now when she is talking to people. Things are going great, until everything changes. People find out that Marlee's friend, Liz, has been passing for white, but she is actually African American. Now Liz can't go to school, and her family's in danger. Every little bit of confidence Marlee has gained is now gone. Marlee and Liz meet at different places so that they can still be friends, and still talk with each other. One day Marlee and Liz were meeting at an abandoned quarry, that Marlee and Judy call "The Rock Crusher". Marlee had gotten there after Liz, and a boy from her school, named JT, and his brother had followed her there without her realizing. Red (JT's brother) found an old box of dynamite on the ground. He took it with him and threatened to blow up Liz's house. When Marlee got home she told her parents all about the dynamite, they called the police, but the police did not have any evidence so they couldn't do anything about it. Marlee gets stuck in the back of Red's car while trying to get out the rest of the dynamite. She breaks her letter opener trying to get out, but ends up breaking the lock and getting out. Red still has a couple of dynamite and ends up throwing them through the window of the house that some people, including Marlee, Liz, and their families, were having a meeting in. Marlee had seen Red's car so everyone got out of the house in time, but the house needed some fixing up.  She and Liz get banned from seeing each other again for their own safety. In the end, the high schools reopen and everything goes back to normal.

One of the main themes that I found in this book is important to be brave and speak up for yourself. An example that I have for this theme is when Marlee has just found out that Liz was passing for white. They were going to do a presentation together, but now that Liz is gone, everyone assumes that Marlee doesn't want to do the presentation. "'Yes Marlee?' 'I want to do the presentation.' My voice shook, but the words were clear" (64). My second example is when Marlee finally speaks up for herself against her mom. "'JT's been making me do his homework for him all year, and when I finally told him no because it was cheating, you made me do it again'" (194). My third and last example, is when Marlee and her parents go to JT's house to accuse Red of blowing up the house. Normally under this pressure Marlee wouldn't want to say anything, but she has gotten better at speaking up. "'Though he did recently have the lock broken off. Had to get a new one installed. I don't suppose your daughter would know anything about that?' I counted 2, 3, 5 and said 'Yes, I do'"(275). These are three examples of why you should be brave and speak up for yourself.

I would definitely recommend this book to other 7th grade readers. I think that Marlee's story is sad, but great and inspiring. This book may look long, but I couldn't stop reading it. What I liked about this book is how Marlee and Liz never gave up trying to stop segregation, and how they never gave up on each other. These are some really cool things about this book and why I would absolutely encourage other 7th graders to read it.

Some other books that Kristin Levine has written are The Paper Cowboy and The Best Bad Luck I Ever Had. Kristin Levine got the New-York Historical Society Children's History Book prize, and the New York Times Book Review Editor's Choice award on The Lions of Little Rock. Because of how much I liked the book I would love to read Kristin Levine's other books.

Practice Book Review: The Veldt

    

The Veldt, by Ray Bradbury, is about a future family who depends on technology way too much. In the beginning, their nursery, a virtual reality room, has something wrong with it. Lydia the mother feels as if the nursery is just too real, like things are coming to life. Lydia suggests shutting off the whole nursery for a few days and taking a vacation. The children have changed the nursery into an African veldtland, and their father George Hadley can't change it even though it's supposed to change according to your thoughts. George and Lydia start hearing mysterious screams coming from the nursery, and get even more worried. The kids, Peter and Wendy will not admit that the nursery is Africa.  Peter tells his father that he should not even consider shutting the house off for a few days, and his father says that he will have no threats from his son. George and David McClean (the the children's psychologist) go to investigate the nursery, and find one of Lydia's scarfs on the ground bloody and chewed on. They then shut the house off and the children throw a fit. Lydia convinces George to turn the nursery back on for just one more minute. The children call their parents down to the nursery and they lock it from the outside. The lions were back and they pounced on the parents, and they suddenly realized why the screams had sounded familiar.
     
     One main theme that I found in this story is to not spoil your children or there could be bad consequences. One example that I have is when George and Lydia thought about locking the nursery for a few days. "' You know how difficult Peter is about that. When I punished him a month ago by locking the nursery for even a few hours-the tantrum he threw! And Wendy too. They live for the nursery'" (12). My second example is when the parents are talking about the nursery malfunctioning and George is thinking about how much the nursery cost, it had cost half as much as the rest of the house. "'But nothing is to good for our children,' George had said" (9). My third and last example is how the children are not listening to their parents. "' We've given the children everything they ever wanted. Is this our reward-secrecy, disobedience?'" (18). These are three example of why you should not spoil your children.
   
     I would definitely recommend this story to other 7th graders. Ray Bradbury envisions many pieces of awesome technology, some of which have now been invented.  Like automatic lights, which turn on when they sense your presence then turn off when you leave. This story is very well written and is very exciting. These are some of the reasons why I would recommend this story to other 7th graders.