Yelena is in prison and about to be executed for murder when she is offered the chance to become the Commander of Ixia’s food taster. She says “Yes” and then comes the bad news. Not only will she be in danger of dying from poisoning, if she doesn’t see the Chief of Security every day for her antidote , she’ll die horribly from  the “Butterfly Dust” poison she was deliberately given in the course of her training. Yelana has to learn to deal quickly with the politics of court and country, while trying to keep herself alive and keep the Commander from being assassinated as well. What is it about Yelena in particular that she has so many enemies?  This is not a good time to fall in love, especially with the man who holds her life (and medicine) in his hands. And did she really commit murder, or was it an act of heroism? This is a fast-paced, suspenseful read with a smart, crafty heroine in an unusual situation.

Brown, 3rd Period

The book I chose to read is called The Jester by James Patterson. It is about a man named Hugh De Luc who lives in a small town called Veille du Père with is wife Sophie. He then heads off on a “Crusade” fighting for Christianity, though he did not believe in it. He was doing it so he and his wife could be free. When he came back, to his horror, he found out that attackers had raided his town looking for a priceless relic and killed his son that had been born while he was gone. They had also kidnapped his wife. Hugh now embarks on a journey to find his wife and get revenge on those who had done what they’d done to his friends and family.

My favorite part in the book, or the part that really got me up and reading, was the part where Hugh follows the path that the attackers took to find his dear Sophie. Along the way, he fights this boar that attacks him as he was laying to rest. In the end, he kills the boar and lies on the side of the road, waiting for God to take him. To his luck, a beautiful woman named Emilie, from the beautiful city called Boreè, and some of her riders, picked him up and brought him to their city to heal him. When Hugh woke up lying in a bed, he finally got his chance to meet Emilie, his savior. After they became close in a couple days, he told her what he was doing. She decided to help him, or give him a pretext. She took him to Boreè’s jester, Norbert. At first, Norbert didn’t see anything of Hugh. But after Hugh had shown Norbert one incredible trick, Norbert decided to train him. Hugh was ready after two weeks. He now wore a jester suit that was sewn by Emilie, and he heads to a city where his liege stays: Treille. His plan is to become the jester of Treille and sneak into the dungeon and look for Sophie. Little does he know, he’s about to encounter a lot more than he expects. And So will you.

Brown Period 8

Twilight. Wow. What a book. Seriously, there isn’t a word that can express my feelings towards this book. Its really good. The book is about this girl, Isabella Swan, who shows up to a new state and town with no friends, to live with her dad who is a “minor leauge” baseball player. At school, all the boys are bedazzled over her, except one. That strange one happens to be this kid named Edward Cullen. Bella acts as if it were love at first sight. She loves Edward, but feels as if he doesn’t feel the same way. Well later in the book, you really find out that Edward has to stay away from her because he is a VAMPIRE, and it is for her own good. Bella realizes that and they do nothing but get closer and closer everyday, and she likes. Edward knows his boundaries, and keeps them. At the very end of the book, Bella gets herself into big trouble, and she gets hurt very bad, and the whole Cullen family shows up to try and save her. Thats about it.

I totally would recommend this book to anyone. Even my dad reads these books, and when I told him about them, he started laughing and told me that they were for girls. As little as he knew, he is now hooked on the supense and thrill these books give the reader.

Lockowitz-Per 3

I read the book, New Moon, by Stephenie Meyer. Bella is 18 now, and her vampire love-Edward Cullen- along with his family decides to leave her in the town of Forks, Washington, because he believes that being with him is too dangerous for Bella. This incident causes her to become speechless and petrified. Her loved ones are really worried about her, and she knows that now she has to stop being isolated, and move on. One day, she visits Jacob Black, an old friend; they end up forming a good amity, and they become best friends. But later, Bella finds out a huge secret about Jacob-he is a werewolf. This somehow drifts Jacob and Bella apart, and Bella starts taking stupid actions. These action lead her to hurting someone that she loves very much…

The one main specific aspect of this book that I like most is the way Stephenie Meyer portrays the traits of the different characters by their language and dialogue. For example, for the main character, Bella, she uses vocabulary that makes her sound curious, analyzing, and intelligent. For Edward, she uses a sophistic style by enhancing the diction and word choice of his words. Lastly, for Jacob, she uses dialogue for him that has a slight mocking, sarcastic tone, showing his personality. Word choice makes a huge difference on how you view someone.

Mr. Lockowitz-Period 3

New Moonis a story about 18 -year-old Bella Swan. When her vampire love, Edward Cullen, (along with his family) leaves Bella in Forks, Washington, because he believes he has put her in so much danger, she becomes petrified and speechless. Her loved ones worry for her day and night, until she finally realizes that she needs to move on. So, she takes a step forward, and reaches out to Jacob Black, who she winds up having a great amity with. But later, she finds out a huge secret about him-Jacob is a werewolf. This splits them apart suddenly, and Bella takes stupid actions that wind up hurting who she loves.

The one main specific aspect of this book that appeals to me most is how the author, Stephenie Meyer, shows the difference between all the characters’ personalities by their dialogue. For example, the main character, Bella, is very intelligent, and you can observe that by the way that she speaks. Edward’s talking is a bit more sophisticated, because of his diction or word choice. Jacob on the other hand uses very simple words, and speaks in mocking and sarcastic tones, which shows that he is very opinionated. This way helps us distinguish the different traits of the main characters.

Ms. Colan-Period #1

In the book A Child Called “It,” the mother of David, beats her son everyday, calls him “It” because she said that he is a nobody and a loser with no future, buts his little body over a burning stove, locks him in a room with poison, and never feeds him. The mother treats David’s two older brothers like little angels. At the beginning of David’s beatings, the brothers and the father would help David and bring him food at night in the garage. But later on the brothers and the father were being brainwashed by the mother and would never again help David. They would just walk past him while he was on the ground crying. David had none to help him but himself. Through his whole life, David had to find out ways to trick him mother and to survive.