Surfer

Turki Alfaqir

Writer: Paul Harvey

Genre: Adventure

Date started:21/6/2010

Date finished:22/6/2010

In this book I liked the boy surfer. The characters are Nick, his father and mother, Mike, Brian and Janelle. Nick's father was angry. "Why do you want to go to Australia now?" he asked. "You're only sixteen - you can go to Australia later. College is the important thing for you now. And you can't get to Australia and live there with only eight hundred pounds, you know." His mother and father didn't like Nick's plan. They wanted him to go to college, but he wanted to go to Australia for three months.

His mother and father didnt understand. He didn't want to wait - he wanted to go now, not later.

It was a hot Saturday in early July. The water and sky were blue in the afternoon sun and there were some big waves for the surfers. A big wave came and Nick started to swim strongly.

It was eight o'clock that evening. Only three or four surfers were in the water. It was time to go home. Nick put his things in his bag.

"It's your friend Mike" the boy answered. "He had an accident and cut his foot. It's bad. He can't walk. He won't be in the competition on Saturday now, not with a bad foot."

Nick didn't answer. Brian walked angrily away up the beach with his surfboard.

Nick looked at Janelle. She smiled at him and at his father. "It will be difficult to stop him" she said.

The message is college is important before anything else. The book is good. The English level is maybe difficult. I recommend other students read this book.

Beauty & the Beast

Jessica (Kyoung Mee) Jung

Publisher : Pearson Education Limited.

Genre : Folk tale

Date Started: 19 June 2010
Date Finished : 19 June 2010

# Describing the book #

This book was first published by Librairie du Liban Publishers in 1996.

This book's story is Beauty and the Beast.

# Responding to the book #

Once upon a time, a long time ago, a rich man lived with his family in a big house. He loved his family, but his favourite child was his youngest daughter, Beauty. She was kind and beautiful.

One winter, there was a terrible storm and all his ships were lost at sea. The family got poorer and poorer and had to move to a smaller house in the farm but they was happy. All the family had to work very hard on the farm. Beauty was helping with the father’s farm work.

One day Beauty’s father decided to go visit friends in town. In the afternoon it started to get cold and was getting dark. He needed a place to stay. He made the discovery of a big house.

He went into the big house and he cried loudly but no one answered. He stayed a while. Next morning he could not believe his eyes. Just in front of him was an ugly monster. The monster is half man and half beast.

The beast said. If you do not bring a your daughter Beauty, I will to kill all your family. He went to his house and told his family. He and Beauty were afraid and then Beauty went to the Beast’s house.

Beauty saw a magic mirror on the wall. She could see her family so she lived in the big house with Beast.

The beast was very kind.

One day she could see her father in the magic mirror. Her father is very sick.

She requested the Beast to let her go back to the house. The Beast gave a ring to her after she promised to come back. Time passed and he was not sick. One day she looked at his ring. The ring's colour was changed to black.

She went to the Beast as she was worried. She arrived at his house. He was lying down. She was crying and kissed him. Then he turned into a prince born of light.
Her kindness saved the beast. He was a hexed prince. She was amazed and the prince was very happy. Then he married her and they lived happily ever after.

Silas Marner

Maggie (Jianmei) Cao

George Eliot
2010.06.16-2010.06.21

Marner was a very strange man who lived alone in Raveloe.The people don't know anything about him. They were afraid of him.

Marner was a good weaver, so a lot of people had him weave something for them. Everyday he worked in his room. He was ill, because his eyes were open but unseeing, like a dead man's. After a few moments Silas appeared to wake up. Some people thought he was a disaster.
He has a good friend. He name was William. Marner believed William very much. He was delighted that his girlfriend did not mind if William joined them sometimes on their Sunday walks. But William was not a good man. He likes Marner's girlfriend. So William snatched Marner's girlfriend. Marner was very sad. Since then he just works. He has so much money. He thought money is his friend. He loves it!
This is a sad story. I pitied Marner. Although he has a lot of money, he is a poor man. His life isn't interesting.

The writer has a rich imagination. I think this about author's life! This book is worth reading.

A New Zealand Adventure

Mark (Meng) Cui

Author Jan Thorburn
Sarah and Jessica are going to New Zealand for a holiday. They get in a taxi & see a mobile phone on the taxi floor. They want to give it to Michael.
Date Started 23th June
Date Finished 23th June
Sarah and Jessica are the main characters.
What happens? Two girls see a mobile phone. and want to find the lost person.
What is the theme? Honesty is important.
I think this is a good book . I learned honesty is important. I am going to change my lifestyle because of reading this book.
This is a good book because it is very easy. I would recommend other students read this book.

Tomorrow's Girl

Mark (Meng) Cui

The man is called Bernardo . His mother and father were dead, and he had no brothers or sisters. But he did have an island. He wants to change it. He is going to be rich. But another old man doesn't like him changing it. The girl is from 2099. She was a student. She went in a time machine back to 1999. She doesn't want Bernardo to change it.

Date Started: 13th June
Date Finished: 13th June
Bernardo and Marta are the main characters
What happens? The young man wants sell the island to be rich. The woman and the old man stop the man. The theme is conservation

I think this is a good book . I learned people must conserve nature. I am going to change my lifestyle because of reading this book. This is a good book because it is very easy. I would recommend other students read it.

The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn

Evan (Zhang) Motong

Mark Twain is very a famous writer in the world, he was American. His birth name was Samuel Langhorne Clemens.

He was a proponent of the late 19th century American literature of realism.

Huck pursued a free life, and fled to the Mississippi river. In his escape, he met an escaping slave, the honest and hardworking Jim. They became good friends, on the Mississippi River. After the escape, they experience various adventures and frustrations, and Huckleberry helped Jim get free.

The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn is the sequel to the Adventures of Tom Sawyer. There are four very famous works by Mark Twain."The drifting journey of Huck and his friend Jim, a runaway slave, down the Mississippi River on their raft may be one of the most enduring images of escape and freedom in all of American literature."
Huck's novel is at the center of American literature. It is also famous for capturing the spirit of rebellion among children.

Anne of Green Gables

Jessica (Kyoung Mee) Jung

Author : Lucy Maud Montgomery

Genre : Children's literature

Date Started: 14 June 2010
Date Finished : 15 June 2010

# Describing the book #

This book was first published by Harrap 1925.

This book is a story about one girl with red hair. Her name is Anne Shirley. And she is an orphan. Anne is adopted by the Green Gables house from the orphanage. After, the story of her growing up occurs.

# Responding to the book #

Matthew Cuthbert lived with his sister, Marilla, in Green Gables. Matthew was sixty years old. His heart isn’t very strong. He wants a boy to help him on the farm. But, they received a female child from the orphanage by mistake. They didn't wanted a girl, but Anne was a very interesting child and came to be loved by Matthew and Marilla. And she went to Avonlea school. Anne was happy everyday and she has red hair but she hated her hair colour. One day she bought black hair dye but it made her hair green. She was very sad. “We’ll have to cut it” Marilla said, and she cut Anne’s hair short. “I’ll never hate my red hair again!” said Anne.

A long time after Anne sat examinations to enter Queen’s College. One day Anne’s name was in the newspaper. She received the best score in the examination. But she’s not going to go to college. She’ll teach the students at Avonlea school.

I read this book when I was young. I think a lot of people know this story, and this book is good for the elementary level.

The Hulk

Maggie (Jianmei) Cao

Author: JAMES SCHAMUS
Dates read: 2010.06.12--2010.06.15

The book is based on the screenplay by JAMES SCHAMUS. This is a science fiction movie. The main character Bruce's father is a scientist. For research, he injects germs into himself. After many months, his wife has a baby. This was Bruce. Because of genetic germs, he has a special kind of energy. Bruce's father killed his mother, because after injecting germs Bruce went crazy.

Bruce grew up. He loves science, so he studied science at the University. For one test, he implanted germs. Later, he changed into a big green monster and lost control. He was very terrible. He began to kill people. Many problems happened.

This story ends quite well. Bruce can control himself. I feel Bruce was a wretched person, and couldn't decide his fate

I like this book. I think the writer was very imaginative. If I have time I will watch this movie.

Little Red Riding Hood

Tomoe Watanabe

I read Little Red Riding Hood. This title is Aka (red) Zukin (hood) in Japanese and it’s the England version story. The genre is children’s fiction. The story is a famous children's story. I started reading it on the 14th of June and I finished reading it on the 15th of June.

The book's time and place isn’t given. The main character is Little Red Riding Hood, a girl. I think she is eight years old. She is distinguished by a red hood.

One day Little Red Riding Hood is going to see her Granny because she’s sick in bed. Little Red Riding Hood promised her mother "not to speak to strangers in the woods." I think her mother knew about the wolf. She met the wolf on the way to her Granny's home. He asked her "Where are you going?" She broke her mothers promise and gave the wolf an answer. The wolf ran quickly to Granny’s house. He ate Granny and wore Granny’s clothes to wait for her. Then she came in and she asked four points:
1.Why are your ears so big?
2.Why are your eyes so big?
3.Why are your arms so big?
4.Why are your teeth so big?
She had just finished asking the questions when suddenly she was attacked by the wolf, but just then along came a woodcutter. At last they were saved by him. I think the book's message is "Girl don’t walk alone because girl is eaten by a bad wolf (boy)." I think the best point in this book is her good luck because if the woodcutter had not come to help her, she couldn’t have been helped.

I rate this book as good because I like this story but it is a little long-winded. The English level I rate as easy so I want to introduce it to my fellow students.

A New Hairstyle

Mark (Meng) Cui

Title: A New Hairstyle
Date Started 7th June

Date Finished 7th June
Suzy and a hairdresser are the main characters.

What happens? Suzy wanted a new hairstyle. She just wanted to look different.The hairdresser put colour in Suzy's hair and cut it short. She looked like a different person.

The theme is hairstyle and the message is that a hairstyle can make a difference.

This is a good book because it is very easy. I would recommend other students read this book.

The Wind in the Willows

Jessica (Kyoung Mee) Jung

Author : Kenneth Grahame

Genre : Tale

Date Started: 5 June 2010
Date Finished : 7 June 2010

# Describing the book #

· When & Where is it set ? This edition was first published in 2000

· Who are the main characters ? Four animal friends. (Toad, Rat, Mole and Badger)

· What happens ? Four animal friends home happenings.

· What is the theme? The story of four animals or friends.

· What is the message ? Four animals feature.

# Responding to the book #

I read The Wind in the Willows.

The character names are Otter, Mole, Water Rat, Toad and Badger.

Mole likes his house. His house is a tunnel. He climbed up his tunnel to the outside ground.

He liked being outside.

Next, Rat likes the river and his boats. A river is his great life. At the river live Rat’s brother and sister, Rat’s mother and father and Rat’s friends. And a boat is his great life too. He said “By it, with it, on it and in it”.

They’re good friends.

Toad likes cars and drives a car. He is a very dangerous driver.

“He’s going to stop driving a car” friends say. But his didn’t stop driving a car.

One warm summer morning, Rat and Mole sat on the river bank having a conversation.

“Can we visit Toad?” said Mole.

They will have a big party at Toad’s house, but weasels are in his house. Then one cold, dark night, they went there to face the weasels. They’re very afraid of weasels but, They clasp and fight with a gun, a stick and a knife. They regained Toad’s house again and they have a big party.

This book is fun because you can know about animals. I recommend this book.

Cinderella

Tomoe Watanabe

The title I read was Cinderella. This book’s author is Charles Perrault.
The genre is children’s fiction. I started reading it on the 8th of June.
I finished reading it on the 9th of June.
This book I bought at the book sale. The reason I brought it is I thought I could read it.

The book has no time setting. I think the story's place is France because the prince easily falls in love. That matches my image of France.

The main character is Cinderella. The beginning of the story is sad because her parents died so she lives with a stepmother and her children and they’re always cruel to her.
One day a dance party is held of a castle but Cinderella wasn’t taken to the dance party by them. She wants to go to it so she is very sad. Just then, a mystery lady appeared and she is going to the party by the grace of lady.
But she was told there was a time limit by her.
She is loved by a prince of dance party. But she has a time limit. She hurried back home and she forgot her glass shoe on the stairs of the castle. After several days, he was looking for her. The clue was the glass shoe. Her sisters tried the shoe but they couldn’t wear it. The prince finds Cinderella and they’re happy married.
I think the book’s message is a girl must have modesty because I think one should not be unpleasant to people. I think the best point in this book is the prince is looking for her. I was fond of the grace of this point.
I rate this book as excellent because I like princess stories.

Race To The Moon

Evan (Motong) Zhang

Race to the Moon is about human hope. In 1969, three American astronauts Neil Armstrong, Michael Collins and Edwin Aldrin went to the Moon. This was a great feat. For their space food the Astornauts put water into dried food to make it wet, then no crumbs could floar around and damage the spaecraft's controls. The Race to the Moon tells us about the first month these things took place. In fact, 1969 was a high point in the race between the Soviet Union and the United States to explore space. Finally, the USA won the race to the moon.

I would like space fans to see this book. This book is simple, because it has a glossary to help you read. The description is very interesting in this book. I like it. I hope you like it, too.

The Lady in the Lake

Maggie (Jianmei) Cao

This is a detective story. The book's anthor is Raymond Chandler.
When Read: 2010.6.13 - 2010.6.16

In the beginning the author tells us Malao is a detective. Mr Kinsley is Malao's boss. Malao accepted a task from Mr Kinsley -- Looking for Mr Kinsley's missing wife. MaLao found Chris, but Chris told Malao he didn't go with Mrs Kinsley. When Malao twice found Chris, the Mozart doctor secretly watched him. Mozart called Degarmo to beat Malao . In the nearby lake villa Kinsley sinks a woman's body ...

The book is full of suspense. Sometimes I felt afraid, but is was exciting. At the end I knew the truth. I think the book is very good and many people must love it!

Amazon Terror

Evan (Motong) Zhang

Last Sunday, I read Amazon Terror. This is a narrative novel. It is about a Spanish army expedition to the Amazon searching for gold but finally they failed. The people and the tropical rain forests of the Amazon provided them with danger.
This book is divided into eight parts:
1. A city of gold
2. The journey begins
3. Strange new lands
4. Night terrors
5. Looking for help
6. Where were they?
7. The reach the sea.

Do you like risk? Do you like nature? Do you like excitement? Please read this book. Here the Amazon is the background of the stories of adventure.

In addition, in this book the words and sentences are very simple so this book can help elementary learners learn English. Finally the book has a glossary to help you know difficult words. If you want to learn to English, this book should be your choice. I like this book, and I hope you like it too.

Winnie The Humpback Whale

Tomoe Watanabe

This books author is Lynn M LaGrange. The genre is children’s.

I started reading it on the 1st of June.
I finishing reading on the 2nd of June.

The book has no time setting. The story's place is in the sea. The main character is Winnie. She’s a humpback whale. The beginning of her story is very sad because this is the tale of losing whale tails through seafaring. So this story is connected to the protection of animals.
One day Winnie met a handsome whale and fell in love. At the end she swam with her boyfriend for the rest of her life, so it has a happy end.

I think the books message is ‘People shouldn’t be judged by their appearance?’ So if I have a difficulty I'm not unhappy. I think the best point in this book is the happy end because a happy end makes me think positive.

This book's rate is fair, because the density is too little. I want a story with more density.
I think the English level is easy. This book was hardly ever difficult to read. It wasn’t interesting for me to read in this book.

Brad Pitt

Jessica (Kyoung Mee) Jung

Author : Nancy Taylor

Genre : Biography

Date Started: 31 May 2010


Date Finished : 1 June 2010

# Describing the book #

· When & Where is it set ? In the USA from the 1960s.

· Who are the main characters ? Brad Pitt

· What happens ? The story is about Brad Pitt before and after he became a movie star.

· What is the theme? Brad’s life

· What is the message ? “He had fun and got $9 an hour for his acting.” He usually has fun working in movies.

# Responding to the book #

This book is Brad Pitt’s story.

Brad is a creditable and good-looking actor. He has appeared in many films and met many women. He is makes lots of money and he is the best Hollywood movie star. Brad was a born actor from when he was young. He was born in Oklahoma on December 18, 1963. Brad was interested in everything. After high school, he went to the University of Missouri. He did ashow with friends. They sold tickets to help sick children.

He went to Hollywood when he was 22 years old. According to the book “He had fun and got $9 an hour for his acting.” I want to imitate his lifestyle. He’s made many movies which are famous, especially ‘Thelma & Louise,’ ‘Interview With a Vampire,’ ’Legends of the Fall,’ 'Seven,’ and '12 Monkeys’.

If you like Brad Pitt, I recommend you read this book.

The Wrong Man

Mark (Cui) Meng

Two men are in hotel rooms. They aren't on holiday.They are killers.They want to kill the Police Commissioner. Steve Malone and Sally Peters want to find the killer.

Date Started 28th May
Date Finished 29th May

Steve and Sally are the main characters.

What happens? The killers want to kill the Police Commissioner. Steve is a police officer. Sally is a journalist. They want to find the killer. Steve hits the killer. The killer moves back and falls down the rock.
What is the theme? Doing things seriously. I think this is a good book . I have learnt to do things seriously. I am going to change my lifestyle because of reading this book. The best thing about the book is 'man must be brave' and the worst 'poor law and order.'

I would recommend other students read this book because it is easy.

Anne of Green Gables

Maggie (Jianmei) Cao

Writer: L.M. Montgomery
When Read: 2010.5.28--2010.6.1

This story's author is Lucy Maud Montgomery. She was famous in Canada.The story was published in 1908.Its genre is children's literature.
Matthew and Rilla lived on Prince Edward island. They were brother and sister. They wanted to adopt a boy from an orphanage as a helper, but the orphanage sent a girl. Her name is Anne. Anne has a rich imagination and she gives Matthew and Rilla a lot of fun. They came to really love Anne.

Anne's parents died when she was a young girl. But she did not feel lonely, she was a sunny girl. She likes fantasy. She imagined herself perhaps as a king's daughter,or by pirates stolen. She imagined many things and many people. She thinks that is interesting. Looking here, I felt I entered her world. It was a good feeling.
Anne loves life and likes flowers and trees. She is kind. She gets on very well with her family, friends and classmates. She likes studying and writing. Annie is a dreamer. She tries very hard, so her dream comes true!

Let's learn form Anne. I believe the future is bright! Come true my dream!