The Three Musketeers

Mark (Meng) Cui

Title: The Three Musketeers
Author: Alexandre Dumas
Date Started: 27th June
Date Finished: 27th June
D'Artagnan was the main character.

What happens? The three musketeers protect the king against evil forces in the story.

What is the theme? I think friendship and bravery are the themes.
I think this is a good book. I learnt bravery and loyalty are important from it.
This is good and very famous book. I read it, but unfortunately cannot fully understand it.

Hercules, Serpent's Shadow

Maggie (Jianmei) Cao

2010.6.24--2010.6.28.

This story's author is Timothy Boggs. This was a very famous television show many years ago.

This was book was about a journey of Hercules. The book has twelve chapters. Every one is interesting. The story has a lot of terrible things. Hercules and his friends meet lots of terrible things on the journey. On the journey they have sadnesses and also have happinesses. In the end Hercules and his friends came back home.

I think this is an exciting story. Although Hercules and his friends meet lots of terrible things on the journey, they foster the very meaning of Hercules and his friends' life. From start to end they are together.They very good friends. I want to find some good friends, because I feel friends are very important.

Arabian Nights

Tomoe Watanabe

The title I read was Arabian Nights. This book's author isn’t given. I think the genre is a fable. I started reading it on the 15th of June, and I haven't finished it yet, because this book is very long. I’m still reading it now. This book I bought at the book sale. The reason’s I knew some of the tales. I want to know more other tales, as I’m interested in these tales. I think the book is sat during the Medieval Islamic period in an Arabian land. The main characters are Scheherazabe and Schahria.

This stories rough content is Schahria's wife was unfaithful to him. He has distrust of his wife, so he takes vengeance on all women. One day Scheherazabe heard about this. She thinks to stop the vengeance, so she married him. As she talks every night she changes his mind. The tales she tells attract him. He wants to hear the next tales, so he stops the vengeance. He had been listening to her for a thousand and one consecutive days.

I think the best point in this book is it has so many tales. So they’re very interesting. You can know the famous fairy tales of Arabia and this book includes many famous fairy tales. I knew such a tale as “Aladdin and his Magic Lamp”,“Sinbad the Sailor” and “Ali Baba and the Forty Thieves.” I think this book reads easy comparatively and the tales are interesting. I rate this book as good, but this book has a lot of tales, so I think you need much time for reading it. If you are interested in this book, read it.

Walkabout

Turki Alfaqir

Title :Walkabout

Author:James Vance Marshall

Genre:Normal

Date started:12/7/2010

Date finished:13/7/2010

The bush boy walked alone. He was on his walkabout. He had to live in the desert alone for six months. He had to find food and water. He had to kill animals, and find fruit on the trees.

In Australia, when an aboriginal male is sixteen, his tribe sends him out into the Australin Bush. A lot of the bush is desert. The bush boy has to live there alone for months. The Aboriginals call tis time the 'walkabout'

This is the story of an Aboriginal boy's walkabout, but it is also the story of two American children. Mary and Peter are lost in the Australian desert after an aeroplane crash. Their uncle is waiting for them in Adelaide, a long way away. The desert is a strange world for the children. They come from a city, and things are different there. When they meet the bush boy, they learn about the desert. They also start to think about their world.

This book is good The English level is easy. I recommend other students read this book.

Muhammad Ali

Khalid Al Shaer

Author: Bernard Smith.

Genre: Sport.

Data Started: 13th of July

Data Finished: 14th of July

Who are the main characters ? The boxer, Muhammad Ali.

What happens? The book tells the story of Muhammad Ali, how he lived in the US and the problems black men had with white men, how he changed his name from Cassius Clay to Muhammad Ali and how he got a lot money.

What is the message? Sport can bring a lot of money.

What did you think of the book? I think it is good .

What did you learn through reading this book? I learned some new words .

How would you rate the book? Good.

Aladdin and the Lamp

Jaye Feng

Aladdin does not have a Daddy. One day a magician pretending to be Aladdin's uncle took him to a cave. He wanted Aladdin's to get a magic lamp from the cave. As soon as Aladdin looked into the cave he saw glittering wealth inside! But Aladdin discovered he was in danger. The cave was sealed up by the magician. Pitifully Aladdin rubbed the lamp, and in front of him appeared a kind of vast white thing, seemingly a huge monster, but actually a genie. The genie helped Aladdin, and enabled him to have the castle and princess. I like the genie, because he gladly helps humans.

Charlie and the Chocolate Factory

Tomoe Watanabe

I read Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. My home stay mother lent me this book, so that was how I came to read it.
I started reading it on the 26th of July and I finished reading it on the 30th of July.
This story is a famous movie.
I liked this movie, because the film was directed by Tim Burton. A black joke is contained in the films he makes.
I think the genre is a fantasy and comedy.

The main characters are five children, small factory staff and a factory owner 'Willy Wonka.' He’s a crazy but amazing chocolatier. These five children are very individual, so the characters are easy to introduce. There is a chubby boy, an offensive girl, a willful girl, a high tech nerdy boy and a kind boy.

It’s a few days story. Five children got gold tickets, so they can go to see the secrets in Wonka's factory. The factory is very strange, because there is a chocolate river and small people staying there. The children have a valuable and dreamlike experience in the factory and experience happenings fitting to their various types, for example the fatty boy and the willful girl. The fat boy saw the amazing chocolate river. He couldn’t stop his appetite and then he fell mistakenly into it, but was sucked from the chocolate river through a big straw. In the end he looked like a chocolate doll. After time the willful girl met a smart squirrel, because it knows how to break a walnut, so she wanted it, but Wonka said "Keep away because danger." She couldn’t give this up. The squirrel got angry at when she caught the squirrel, so she was caused to fall into a big dust box by the squirrel.

I think this book's message is “keep your actions within bounds” and “Children shouldn’t act like adults”.
I rate this book as excellent because I like fiction stories and I like Johnny Depp. The English level I rate as a little difficult but my host children can read this book. Find it and try it.

The Wrong Man

Elva Shi

Title： The Wrong Man

Author: Kris Anderson

Genre: 'Whodunit'

Date Started: 11.7.2010

Date Finished:11.7.2010

The book tells about Uluru. It’s a big rock in Australia. It’s very hot there. There is a big hotel near Uluru .A lot of people come to the

hotel on holiday. But two men aren’t on holiday . They want to kill

the Police Commissioner. A person knows one of the men and writes a

letter to the police. Then one man wants to find the killer. His name

is Steve Malone. He talks to his boss. The boss says the killer’s

name stars with “M.” So they get the news. The hotel has three men

named “M.” They’re Eric Manton, he’s a doctor, Micky Munro, he’s a

singer, and William Mortimer, he’s got a lot of big shops. Steve has their

photos and he knows about them. He writes about them in his book. But

he only has two days。So he hasn’t a long time.

On Saturday Steve arrives in Uluru. The weather is very hot, So Steve

wants to have a swim. He puts his bag under the bed .The photos and

his book are in his bag, but he comes back to his room. He finds a

young woman looking at his things. He’s very angry, so he comes up and

arrests the young woman. But the young woman talks to him about the

Police Commissioner and the killer, because she wants to write a story

about it for her newspaper. Then they consulted for a long time, at the mealtime. They watch these three people. But William Mortimer is looking at

them too. They catch sight of Eric Manton and his daughter, but his

daughter isn’t happy. They look at Micky Munro but Micky Munro’s manager is angry with them, so they walk back to the hotel room. They find a letter on the floor:"'M' is the wrong man." They don’t know who is writing these letters, but they’re know the killer.

On Sunday morning , Steve and Sally aren’t going in the bus to

Uluru. But they look at Micky Munro going to climb the rock. His

manager isn’t going. The other two people are going to go. They

take the chance of going to the three people's rooms. At Micky Munro’s room his manager impedes them. But Steve hits the manager, and knows information.Micky Munro knows the killer, because Micky Munro talked to Manton and his daughter. But Manton doesn’t know Micky so Manton has a

problem. Then they’re going to his daughter’s room. She can’t move.

She talks to them about the man. Two men kidnapped her father. He has

a gun. Steve understand the things. He goes by helicopter straight

away to help Micky Munro and catch the killer going to Uluru. And a

climber helps him climb up the rock. They look at the killer who wants to

kill Micky Munro. Steve leaps and hits and captures the

killer. At this time Sally and police bring off the “right” Manton,

he’s OK. Later, Micky Munro thanks them for their help. He is going

to send them tickets to his concert. Steve and Sally go

together to Micky’s concert.

Leonardo DiCaprio

Haitham Sabagh

Date Started:13/7/2010
Date Finished:13/7/2010

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It is classified as Elementary

The main character is Leo

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What Happened:
In 1988 he was only a boy with no money.He was in school,but he wasn't a good student.
He wanted to become a representative. Children go to Hollywood to make movies. Leo didn't go to Hollywood because he lived there already.
Leo's mother and father, Irmelin Idenbirken and George DiCaprio, lived in New York. Then they moved to California. In 1974 they had a son - Leonardo. But they had problems, and George moved away from the family home. Leo was only one year old, and he stayed with his mother. But his father visited him every day and the family was happy. There were a lot of problems and there were drugs on the street. Leo and his mother moved to a new home. His first time on TV was at five years old. He was in the children's show, Romper Room. But he always wanted to play, and the show's producers were angry with him. Leo wasn't on television again for nine years. But television wasn't the only interesting thing for young boys. In Hollywood the director watches, and he gives the part to the right actor. Leo went to a lot of auditions. Often he did't get the jobs and then he was unhappy. But at fourteen he got a part in a television commercial for Matchbox cars. After that he was in a lot of commercials and he had small parts in some famous television shows-Lassie, Roseanne and The Outsiders.
Leo wanted to get big parts in television shows but it was difficult.One woman in Hollywood didn't like his name.He tried a new name Lenny Williams, but he didn't like it. He quickly went back to Leonardo DiCaprio. Then he got an important part in the television show Santa Barbara.The show was on TV five times every week, and Leo did alot of work. There was a new script for every show.

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The theme is the difficulty of being a representative.

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The message is 'If you have a chance, don't let it be nullified.'

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The book is very good. I learned how family problems affect the psyche and if there is an opportunity for a good future it must be exploited

The book is also good because of its easy words. I recommend other students read this book.

Little Red Riding Hood

Maggie (Jianmei) Cao

2010.07.9 -2010.07.13

This is an old story. Long long ago I read this book many times. I really like this story.

This an easy book. This story's main character is 'Little Red Riding Hood.' She is a pretty girl. One day, her mother cooks a lot of cupcakes. She helps her mother by taking some cupcakes to her Granny. When Little Red Riding Hood leaves home her mother told her 'You shouldn't speak to strangers in the woods.' On the road, one wolf was watching her from behind a tree. Little Red Riding Hood remembers 'Don't speak to strangers' so she walks fast, but the wolf is faster than her. The wolf first came to Granny's house. It puts on Granny's clothes. Little Red Riding Hood comes. She feels strange, because today Granny is different. She asked some questions to this 'Granny'. The wolf jumps from the bed. She is afraid. The Woodsman comes to help Little Red Riding Hood and kills the wolf. In the end Little Red Riding Hood meets Granny.

I think this is an interesting story, because I feel the end is good.

Coffee Time

Mark (Meng) Cui

Date Started 13th July
Date Finished 13th July
Zita and Judy are the main characters.

What happens? Zita and Judy go to a coffee bar.

What is the theme ? The theme is meeting up.

I think this is a good book . I learned English sentences to do with meeting friends. This is also a good book because it is very easy. I would recommend other students read this book.

The Hen & the Bull

Eva Lin

Author: Saki
Genre: Story
Date started: 12/7/2010
Date finished: 13/7/2010

There are two stories in this book. The first one happened between friends Jane and Dora because of a hen. Both of them are going to their friend Clovis’s house, but they were angry with each other. Jane bought a hen from Dora for a high price and she thought she can get a lot of eggs from this hen, but the hen did not give her any eggs. Not at all! They both wrote angry letters and disagreed with each other, but in the end, Dora found out that some of her best hens are ill.

The other one happened on an old farm. Because of the bull, brothers Tom and Laurence are not happy, but also because of the bull, they become friends again. The bull, Clover, likes to play. One day, Laurence stayed with Tom for a week, Tom took him to look around the farm and shows him his hens, cows and the bull. Then when Laurence said that he sold a picture of the bull for three hundred pounds, Tom thought that he probably can only get a hundred pounds for Clover and got angry. Because of the noise, Clover wanted to play this exciting game so Laurence was injured. Tom took care of him and talked with him. Finally, they were friends again.
From this book, we know that we should not blame others from the beginning because there may be problems that we have not noticed. Besides, we should respect others.

This book is very interesting for me because this book’s story always happen in our lives. From this book, I understand sometimes we have to use our wisdom for solving problems. I think I will change my attitude and lifestyle after reading this book because sometimes I am angry at first, I do not think about whether I am wrong or right. Everybody becomes angry if they argue with someone. We should think before we get angry. I would like to put 'good' for my rating because the text of this book is very useful for our lives. We have to think twice. The English level is just about right for me. I would recommend other students read this book, I think they will think more through reading this book and they will enjoy it.

Sense & Sensibility

Jessica (Kyoung Mee) Jung

Author : Jane Austen (Retold by Cherry Gilchrist)

Genre : Love Story

Date Started: 11 July 2010
Date Finished : 12 July 2010

# Describing the book #

· The rich people were changed to poor, & so on.

# Responding to the book #

This book is a love story. John Deshwood has a lot of money and has his second wife’s son and his first wife’s three daughters but they didn’t meet. They were living in different places. One day John Deshwood dies so everything changes. His son has a lot of money but his three daughters become poor with their mother and move to a small house in the country. They meet handsome men. The first daughter (Eleanor) loved a handsome man, Edward. Eleanor broke up with him but he came back to Eleanor so they get married. The second daughter (Marianne) loved kindly Brandon and they fall in love. So she gets married to him. The last daughter (Margaret) loved a romantic man Willoughby, but he goes away as she’s poor after he meets a rich woman but then he breaks up with the rich woman.

This book was little difficult so I read it twice.

I don’t exactly like love stories so I’m not interested and I didn’t understand the reasons for the characters' actions.