Book Critique (Dragon Road)

A dream that becomes achieved with a basketball and teamwork. This perfectly describes the novel Dragon Road by Laurence Yep. This story is an amazing realistic fiction that keeps you hooked with the very first sentence. Numerous children and maybe some young teens would really enjoy this novel, since hey can relate to it so easily. One of the main characters, Barney, quotes, "Everybody need somebody." This quote very much relates to the main themes of the story, importance of family and teamwork. Calvin (a.k.a Flash), who is the main character, becomes a major basketball player from Chinatown. With the help of his basketball team, Jean, and Grandpa Joe he finally comes across the true meaning of basketball and importance of family. This fabulous story takes place in many different settings., all over America, Chinatown, and many different basketball courts. Although most of his novels are about magic and ballet, this story, Dragon Road, is all about basketball. Reading this book was very different than his other stories but, in conclusion it was a very good story.

Dragon Road is a novel that has many strong points theoughout the story. A very strong point of the story is, how Calvin learns hot to use teamwork. Occasionally, ebing under the spotlight can be a good thing, but in Calvin's case he learns how to share it. Basketball isn't a one man show, everybody has to be part of the game. In the beginning, Calvin takes all the spotlight for himself without sharing with his friends. Once Barney starts to slip away from Calvin, he finally learned that it was time for him to care and share. Overall, this was the strongest point of the story.

Dragon Road is strongly recommended for young audiences and has an important fact of life that most children go thorough. Calvin used to take all the spotlight for himself. Once children reach 7th or 8th grade, they want to be the center of everything. Reading this story can really show them what to do and what not to do with chracters that fascinate them. In conclusion, Dragon Road is an amazing novel that so many children will love.

Dragonwings

A book of courage, perseverance, friendship, and the importance of family, describes Dragonwings precisely. Dragonwings, written by Laurence Yep, is an outstanding book full of an amazing chain of events. This story is about a boy named Moon Shadow, who is from China, is brought to America by his father and his friends. Moon Shadow hasn't seen his father since he was born and has so much to learn bout him. They both stay in America for 7 more years which leads to many events that tell a superb story. I recommend this novel to anyone who enjoys a story that touches your heart.

The Magician's Elephant, by Kate DiCamillo, is a story about friendship and caring for others. This story has 201 pages filled about Peter,the main character,trying to find his sister Adele. Peter runs into characters, such as a policeman, crippled lady, beggar, and a magician that all help him find his sister and even an elephant helps along the way. This is a sweet book that many people would enjoy reading and has many generous characters.

Neighbors Quickie Blog

Neighbors, The destruction of the Jewish community in Jedwabne Poland, by Jan T. gross is an extremely powerful book. This story has 173 pages (without pictures and glossary) filled with information about the war, murder, and after the war for Jews. Neighbors has an important "moral" to teach, it wasn't the Poles or Germans that killed Jews it was their neighbors. Which means their friends or neighbors could have spoken and said this is wrong but instead they remained silent. This is a sad and heartbreaking story to read but it is about what really happened to Jews.

I Have Lived A Thousand Years

I Have Lived A Thousand Years, by Livia Bitton-Jackson, is a 216 page story filled with hardships and torture. This all happens to Elli Friedman and her family. Ell and the rest of her family are taken to the Ghetto after being forced out of her home. This is a big change for Elli since she is only 13. Elli and her mother are separated from her dad and brother once they are taken to a labor camp. They go on for days without food or water and receive beatings everyday. Elli's life completely changes after she sees a little girl get shot in the head and an old woman get whipped 25 times. No matter how frail they are they fight and work as hard just as if they were healthy so they can survive. Elli, the main character, is an extremely strong girl.

Throughout the whole story Elli is surprisingly a strong girl. Once her father is taken away from her she knows she has to be a strong girl and not give up. She knows her mother is extremely frail and doesn't want anyone to hurt her she even risks her life by hitting and SS guard just so they wont kill her mom. Lastly, when her brother is about to die she has hope that he will survive and will do anything for him even get shot. This book is recommended to anyone who is mature enough to realize the tortures of the Holocaust.

A Wrinkle in Time

A Wrinkle in Time, by Madeline L’engle has 230 pages filled with complete excitement! This story is about a girl named Meg Murry, her brother Charles Wallace Murry, and their new friend, Calvin O’Keefe. All of these children always seem out of the ordinary. They all run into three different characters, Mrs. Which, Mrs. Who, and Mrs. Whatsit. They go onto a mission to find their dad in a lost world named Camazot. They run into so much danger that Meg almost loses her brother! In this story Meg Murry has many different characteristics as the book goes along.

Meg Murry is a girl filled with mixed emotions. In the beginning of the story she is a dorky sort of shy girl. Once she goes to the world Camazot she becomes so much braver and stronger. Since she takes an important role as a big sister she never realized how important that is. She then feels she has to take care of her family and especially her little brother. Although, Meg can at times make dumb decisions and be a bit of a klutz. Meg’s different feelings make this story even better.

Riding the Flume

Riding the Flume by Patricia Curtis Pfitsch is a 222 page book filled with so much adventure, love, and trusting yourself. This story is about a young girl Frances who just lost her sister, Carrie, in a landslide. Frances found out that Carrie has her own tree, the oldest in the world,but the lumber company wants to cut it down! Do you think Frances will have enough time to save her sisters tree? Read it to find out!