Patriots Redcoats and Spies Review

Summary:

When Revolutionary War Patriot Lamberton Clark is shot by British soldiers while on a mission for the Continental Army, he has only two hopes of getting the secret message he’s carrying to General George Washington: his 14-year-old twin boys John and Ambrose. Upon discovering that their father is a spy in the Culper Spy Ring, the boys accept their mission without a clue about what they may be up against. They set off from Connecticut to New Jersey to find General Washington, but the road to the commander-in-chief of the Continental Army is full of obstacles; including the man who shot their father who is hot on their trail.

I decided to let my youngest brother read it first, as it was elementary historical fiction. His thoughts:

• Good for all ages
• Made history interesting
• Exciting action
• I liked that it was  Christian
• Seemed a little unreal

My review:
CONS
 While the book was very interesting and action packed, it was definitely unrealistic. From telling jokes to George Washington (what do you call a patriot dog? Yankee poodle!) or using more modern, 19th century words like 'ok', 'guys', 'yeah', 'Mom' and "Dad', there were certainly many historical flaws. Another 'con' would be the pictures. The people all resembled Quasimodo from the Hunchback of Notre Dame!

PROS
I DID, however, like the storyline. Ambrose and John, twins, had to choose to work together. They had to make many painful choices and sacrifices along the way to deliver their secret message. It was neat to see them mature and work together, and to learn more about the Culpepper Spy Ring.

The book had a Christian message, which I found uplifting.

I also found it fascinating that this book was based off a true character - Lamberton Clark was distantly related to the authors.

All in all, I give the book 2 1/2 out of 5 stars.
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Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this book free from the publisher through the BookLook Bloggers <http://booklookbloggers.com> book review bloggers program. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255 <http://www.access.gpo.gov/nara/cfr/waisidx_03/16cfr255_03.html> : “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”

Secret Adversary review

I had always wanted to read Agatha Christie, but simply never got around to it. I love a good mystery; Nancy Drew, the Hardy Boys, and Trixie Belden, etc. The first Agatha Christie I read,

Secret Adversary, got me hooked. It's free in the Kindle Store, too! And the BBC remake is on YouTube, free as well.

Here's your review:

In 1915, as the Lusitania sinks, a British spy gives a girl his secret papers, since she is a woman and will have a better chance of getting into a lifeboat. He tells her to get the papers to the American Embassy at all costs - even if it means her life. She agrees.

Flash forward to the end of World War 1, 1918. No one knows where that girl is, The papers were never delivered. Did she and the spy drown?

   Enter Tommy and Tuppence, a likable young 'couple' - they're mainly just friends, and there's not too much romance, which I liked- who decide to become mercenaries to earn a little money. Thinking the whole thing is a joke, they unwittingly stumble upon an enemy spy. He sees their innocent naivety and hires them to find the papers!

   Luckily, Tuppence realizes he's up to no good and she and Tommy decide to help one of the Queen's agents by alerting them to the enemy. He in turn recruits them, thinking they are experienced in the underworld. Hahaha-no. Tommy and Tuppence have no clue what they're getting into. They fall into a deadly game of espionage, torpedoes, amnesiacs, kidnapping, poisoning, and basically every exciting thing that could happen to a person. The book is very clean, and not graphic at all. It’s one of my favorite books, and there’s a great plot twist at the end!

Sir Isaac Newton - the early years

It's pretty safe to say everyone knows who Isaac Newton was. You've probably heard about his laws of motion, his research in optics, or his discoveries through calculus. Either way, Sir Newton is hailed as a successful genius.
  But did you know he had a very hard life? His father died before he was born, and after his mother got him financially situated, she left him with his grandparents. She remarried a rich man and spent tons of money on her other children's educations.

   Isaac returned to live with her and his new stepfather at age 10.  Around this time his mother pulled him out of school as it cost to much. She spared no amount of money on her other children, but she was unusually stern when it came to Isaac. His school teachers noticed the potential in him and offered to teach him free of charge if she'd let him return to school.

He was friends with the younger children and the girls, making fully-functioning miniature watermills (he was fascinated with those) and doll furniture. He did hot, however, fit in with the other boys, and they teased him for spending time with girls and smaller children.

 

When he left for college he had to pay his own way by working as a sizar, a highly undesirable position. Sizars were servants for richer students. It was embarrassing for Isaac, who was from a wealthy family, to serve in this position. His friends' fathers and mothers paid for their sons' education, parties, and clothing- Isaac could barely buy food.

 

Petty and jealous all his life, he had few friends at college. One friend, a boy named John, assisted him in the lab and during his discoveries. Isaac could be secretive- he practiced alchemy,  something he could've been thrown in prison for at the time. Anyone who has read the  Harry Potter books is familiar with the Philosopher's Stone; Newton truly believed this stone existed and much of his alchemy work was devoted to trying to find this. He also kept his discoveries hidden from John. He was often seen wandering the college campuses all alone.

 

After graduating from Trinity College, he would write the Principa  and go on to complete his famous discoveries, but it was his lonely childhood and troubled college experience that set the basis for his adult life.

In a later memoir, Newton wrote:

"I do not know what I may appear to the world, but to myself I seem to have been only like a boy playing on the sea-shore, and diverting myself in now and then finding a smoother pebble or a prettier shell than ordinary, whilst the great ocean of truth lay all undiscovered before me.^"

Secret Letters by Leah Scheier Book Review

Oh my. This book was so amazingly written, so suspenseful and well crafted, it's hard to know where to start first.
Basically, the book is about an inquisitive, clever and feisty girl named Dora in 19th century England. She uncovers a massive secret- Sherlock Holmes just might be her biological father. Dora is thrilled- she's read his biographies written by Dr. Watson so many times! So Dora journeys to London to learn the truth, and to ask for Holmes' help in a case. Her cousin is being blackmailed over love letters she wrote when she was a teenager, and Dora is convinced Sherlock will help. So she joins her cousin in London and arrives on Holmes' doorstep- only to learn he was murdered in Switzerland by an adversary. However, his dashing young assistant Peter Cartwright, also guarding a secret past, offers his help in her case. He is investigating a disappearance of a heiress, and they soon realize their cases are intertwined. So Dora goes undercover as a maid to help Peter, learning surprising things about herself in the process. I highly recommend this book for fans of Sherlock Holmes and Victorian-age-literature readers. It was suspenseful, moving, and kept you guessing until the very end. I really enjoyed this read. (The only objectionable content- an unmarried, pregnant maid that Dora befriends mentions abortion, and while Dora 'knew it was terribly wrong, she could not find it in her heart to condemn this woman'.  The whole scene is very brief - not more than four sentences, but I just thought I'd mention it as some of  my readers are young.)
It is very sad at the end, I must admit I cried a little bit. I hope a sequel comes out very soon.
My rating- a must read for mystery fans.

Book Review of Kiki Strike in the Shadow City

 I discovered a copy of Kiki Strike in the Shadow City  at my local library, and since then, my life has never been the same! No, really. This book is amazing!  Annika, a teenage girl living in Manhattan, is bored. As she looks out her window, she notices a mysterious hole in the ground, with a ladder leading down into it. She finds a secret, tiny underground room! Two construction workers digging a sewer discover her exploring
there, so she leaves. Then, her life changes when she meets Kiki Strike, a girl superspy. Kiki  wears all black, has an "army" of five talented Girl Scouts, and drives her Vespa all over Manhattan. She tells Annika that that little room leads to the Shadow City, a secret series of underground tunnels used as speakeasies and escapes for smuggler in the late 1920s - and it's up to them to protect it from falling into the wrong hands. Annika and Kiki, with the Girl scouts Betty( a master of disguise) , Luz,(an inventor) DeeDee(a talented chemist),and Oona,(a hacker and forger) form a group called the Irregulars, and they explore all over Shadow City. Annika and the other girls begin to wonder if Kiki has an ulterior motive for wanting to explore the Shadow City. Soon they find themselves trying to foil an international kidnaping plot- that could turn deadly for their friend Kiki, who isn't who she says she is....


    5 stars! This book was seriously awesome- like a combination of Nancy Drew and the Mysterious Benedict Society. I can't wait to download the rest of the series on my Kindle!

Emily Dickinson

Emily as an adult

Emily as a child

Emily Elizabeth Dickinson  was born December 10, 1830 , and died on May 15, 1886. She was a poet, but if you  asked anyone in her town, they'd admit that she had  published a few pieces of poetry, certainly not many. No one knew she aspired to become a poet, for she hid nearly all of  the brilliant poems she wrote.  Emily  lived in Amherst, Massachusetts, with her fairly successful family.  After she attended  the Amherst Academy for seven years as a child, she also went to Mount Holyoke Female Seminary before returning to her family's house in Amherst. Considered an eccentric by the townsfolk, she became known by her love for white clothing and her shyness; she never greeted guests, and in her later life, hardly even left her room. Most of her friendships were through writing letters, as she never went out of the house. 


This is one of my favorite poems
by Emily Dickinson:

I never saw a moor,
I never saw the sea;
Yet know I how the heather looks,
And what a wave must be.
I never spoke with God,
Nor visited in heaven;
Yet certain am I of the spot
As if the chart were given. 

Pretty awesome, huh? I recommend reading as many of her poems as you can-they're really great!!! 

Dusk book review

So, I entered a writing contest over at Noveltea , and I won a super cute journal that says "Paris, mon amor" and I won this book, Dusk. It's really, really good. Basically, a young girl named Natalya is on a journey to find her grandfather and tell him good news- Princess Shalom is alive!! For years, the people have worried about the princess, for when Turglar was taken over by harsh and controlling Andor, the royal family was destroyed. But rumor has it that baby princess Shalom survived. Now, two decades later, the truth has been confirmed and it’s up to  Natalya  to find and tell the news to Beniel the goat-keeper, a legend in the towns and also her grandfather. Natalya's mother and father work at the palace , and they know for fact Shalom is alive. But it will be a long and dangerous journey for Natalya, yet someone must go.
 The book basically follows  Natalya on her journey, but it also tells stories over other citizens of Turglar, too. I don't' want to give it away, so I 'll just say you should totally read it! You can buy it here.

Charlotte's Web play

So I auditioned for Charlotte's Web and got the part of Goose. At first I was a little(okay, a lot) upset, because I REALLY wanted Charlotte's.*Sniffle* Plus, I thought it would be a teeny part. But once I started looking at the script, I saw that:

1. I have a good part with a lot of lines!
2. It's a really fun part! I get to repeat random words over and over and honk a lot!
3. I Googled  "Goose from Charlotte's web costume"- and there were some adorable costumes!

I'm  beginning to get really excited about the part. I hope that through this I've learned that although I can't always get to be my favorite character or may have to be a part that's out of my comfort zone, that's what acting is. We wouldn't be very good actresses/actors if we were only parts that we wanted to be, would we?

So, that's why now I'm happy to be Goose, and I wouldn't change my part! 

Louisa May Alcott

Maybe you love Louisa May Alcott's books(Little Women, Little Men, Jo's Boy's, Under the Lilacs, Eight Cousins, Rose in Bloom, just to name a few.), but you don't know much about her. If so, read on!

Orchard House

   Louisa was born  in 1832 in Germantown, Pennsylvania, where her father, Bronson Alcott taught school. Her father and mother, Abigail, were transcendentalists, which meant they had different view than most people of their time. They were vegetarians, abolitionists, believed in taking ice cold baths and sleeping on hard mattresses. Bronson believed boys and girls, black and white, should be educated together. His ideas were considered so radical that people took their children out of his school, and it had to close. So, the family(Louisa, her older sister Anna, younger sisters, May and Elizabeth) moved to Boston. Once, while in Boston, six-year-old Louisa became lost. Instead of becoming scared, she laid her head down on a big, kind dog and fell asleep. Another interesting thing that happened to her while living in Boston was that she fell into a frog pond in Boston and nearly drowned, except a young African-American boy came running, leaped in and saved her life. Louisa speculated perhaps this is what caused her abolitionist beliefs.

 After Bronson's job in Boston failed when he invited a black girl to his new school, the family moved to Orchard house in Concord, Massachusetts, where they would spend the rest of their lives. (You can tour  Orchard House.) He took odd jobs here and there. Louisa said that despite their extreme poverty, times at Orchard House were the happiest times of my life. It is these times she based Little Women on.

 The family had several notable neighbors- Emerson, Thoreau, and Hawthorne, to name a few. These were Louisa's mentors, and they inspired her writing.


As a teenager, she wrote"blood and thunder stories" under a  pen name, earning a little money. Louisa always wanted to earn money for her poor family, but just as her writing began to get noticed, the Civil War broke out and she became a nurse. However, she contacted typhoid fever. During her illness, she wrote Hospital Sketches, about her life as a nurse. When she was asked to write a girl's book, she hesitated, saying she "never much liked girls, except my sisters." She wrote Little Women, which is loosely autobiographical, and it was a roaring success. Louisa never married, but she raised May's child Lulu, after May's death. She wrote until her own death at the age of 55 , from mercury poisoning. She contacted this from the medicine she was given when she had fever.

 Louisa lives on in her many writings, which remain popular to this day.

Find out who you'd be in Little women with this quiz:
http://quizilla.teennick.com/quizzes/767819/which-little-women-character-are-you-girls-only

The Tangled web- a Julie Mystery

It's 1974, and Julie meets a new girl, Carla, and the two become fast friends. But why is Carla saying such strange things? And how can Julie help the sad young man at the Vietnam Veteran's Center? Is the woman at the farmer's market really who Carla says she is? All of Carla's stories don't add up, and Julie becomes suspicious. As she investigates, she learns lies really are a tangled web. On top of all this, Julie must give up her room to the eccentric Ms. Joyce, her mother's friend. Lies, an unwelcome visitor, a mysterious young soldier....maybe Julie's week won't be so boring after all!!

This book was AMAZING. It was super suspenseful, and really kept me guessing. I loved how the author worked different elements in with the story-quotes,little details, sayings from 1974, etc. The book teaches a little about the Vietnam war through the view point of a 10-11 year old American girl growing up in 1974.

 The Julie and Ivy(her best friend) dolls...

Reading matters!

Pic from https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiyWzFRncBG-9uJPzUs0PUXZfMW0x5kSJcjYKTqYx305M-lM1yn0kQyLG5-qfQF3sTd1ATjWl7xQeoBzoKH3T10KTLkS0rT019vZQ8lBHRfPDatatZdmpNzv8rZVcrmLxX4JTHIXMXoFWo/s1600/PrettyPinkBooks.jpg

I love reading. Maybe you love reading, maybe you don't. But have you ever stopped to consider how important reading is?
   Reading does matter. Studies show that children who are read to at a young age will  have a love of reading later in life. Three in five inmates in U.S. prisons are illiterate, and 44 million adults in the U.S. can't read well enough to read a simple story to a child. If only they'd been read to when they were younger! My mom has always encouraged me to have a love of reading, and she taught me to read at a young age. But what about children whose parents can't read very well or don't know English? Reading can influence your future career, too. Approximately 50 percent of the nation's unemployed youth ages 16-21 are nearly or completely illiterate, with virtually no prospects of obtaining good jobs.
It's important to read to young children, too. You may think reading to a baby or toddler is boring or ludicrous, but.....

Children who have not developed some basic literacy skills by the time they enter school are 3 - 4 times more likely to drop out in later years.  Forty-four percent of American 4th grade students cannot read fluently, even when they read grade-level stories aloud under supportive testing conditions. You can help with this by reading to your younger siblings(or your kids, if you're an adult reading this post.) However, you also need to read, too! Studies of reading habits of students has shown that even just 15 minutes a day of independent reading can expose you to more than a million words of text in a year. So what are you waiting for? Get out there and read!! What you read is almost as important as if you read, however. Historical fiction is fun and educational, as are nonfiction books. Books like Nancy Drew and the Hardy Boys are exciting and have lots of interesting vocabulary words. Fantasy and Sci-fi books are alright once in a while, but constantly reading them doesn't really help your mind. If you like those kind of books, however, just look for ones with challenging words or that are on grade level. Here's a list of good reads I've blogged on: Freedom's Crossing -historical fiction Beware, Princess Elizabeth-historical fiction Hitty, her first hundred years-historical fiction Gail Carson Levine's books fantasy The Hidden Gold-historical fiction/mystery The Invention of Hugo Cabret-historical fiction/mystery Blue Jasmine-modern times/social issues Soul Surfer-modern times/social issues And many more! Just click the label "books" (at the top of my blog)and scroll through!

Ben Wheeler Library

This is the Ben Wheeler Library:

  It was once a schoolhouse. Now, it's a charming little library where you can get any 5 books you want free.
You can also attend special programs. We attended one of the programs and...

  ..... chatted with an opossum,

 made faces along with a beaver skull,

 learned about animal furs,

 ...came face-to face with big skulls like these...

...and had a great time!!

A lady from Texas Parks and Wildlife Services brought tons of animal skulls and furs to look at. We learned loads of interesting facts, such as how to tell what an animal is by looking at it's skull. The speaker was verry funny and her talk was very educational. I really enjoyed it. Something interesting: As I'm writing this, I just saw a coyote walking through our woods!

Beware, Princess Elizabeth book review

Princess Elizabeth is having a bad time of it. Her mother was beheaded, her sister Mary is out to get her, her father the king is dead, and there are hundreds of plots circling around her family. Her true love turns against her, and she loses her wealth.Oh yes, and she's imprisoned in the notorious Tower of London. Not to mention that she's being persecuted for her faith and her good friend Lady Jane Grey was just executed.

No one-even her most loyal supporters- expect Elizabeth to be able to rise out of all this and someday become Queen. Elizabeth herself has doubts. She witnesses first her brother Edward, then her friend Lady Jane Grey, then her sister Mary take the throne. She quietly watches all of them, learning what to do and what not to do if she ever becomes Queen.

 The book follows Elizabeth from 14 to when she becomes queen, and I really enjoyed it. I especially liked that all the characters were real people. However, I didn't like that the book is rather descriptive in some places,(such as beheadings and fights) and all the royal families are trying to get rid of each other.


This book is an educational and enjoyable read. If you enjoy it, you can read the whole series! I give it an 8 out of 10.

Hitty : Her First Hundred Years

Hitty: Her First Hundred Years was first written by Rachel Fields in 1930. Rosemary Wells and Susan Jeffers revised this version. This version is the sometimes sad, sometimes hilarious story of Hitty, a doll who travels all over the world, meeting many people and learning many things. Hitty is carved out of mountain ash wood in Maine for Phoebe Preble, a sea captain's daughter, by a peddler. During her time with Phoebe, many things happen to Hitty, including falling overboard,  living in a tiny temple built for her by natives, and meeting monkeys. But one day, Phoebe falls asleep and drops Hitty unknowingly while being carried back to the ship to head for home. So Hitty is left in a gutter in India and found by a snake charmer and used in his show. Missionaries to India see her there and buy her for their little girl, who later brings her to the States, is embarrassed of Hitty and shoves her in a sofa . Rescued from the sofa by a Quaker girl, Hitty eventually meets Confederate and Yankee soldiers, Abraham Lincoln ,Theodore Roosevelt and his kids, a girl who hates dolls, lots of girls who love dolls, and "some big Irish family in Hyannisport whose name I have forgotten." (she means the Kennedys)

Hitty in the natives' temple 

The house where Hitty is made, the Preble's home, is a real place on Cranberry Island, Maine. You can tour it and buy Hitty dolls! At this site you can buy Hitty paper dolls, learn all about Hitty, and see her new adventures. I really enjoyed the story. I give the book 5 stars! It's a great way to teach history.

image from http://dkkdolls.com/store/media/books/hit0001a.jpg

Langston Hughes

I've been learning about Langston Hughes in my Reading workbook. Langston Hughes was born in 1902. He was one of the most famous African-American poets in the whole world. His mother and grandmother raised him in  several places throughout his life. He was born in Joplin, Missouri and spent most of his childhood in Lawrence, Kansas, being raised by his grandmother. When she died, he moved to Lincoln, Illinois with his mother, then went to high school in Cleveland, Ohio. After graduating, he spent some time in Mexico with his father, he attended Lincoln University in Pennsylvania. The rest of his life was spent in New York. His poetry talks about African-Americans in America.Langston was very close to his mother and grandmother. He saw his college educated mother work as a maid and a waitress because of her color. Langston’s grandmother was very proud of heritage. She told Langston stories of his ancestors who were involved in politics and education. She also told Langston Bible stories and read passages from the Bible aloud to him His mom found a good job in Topeka, Kansas. She moved there with Langston. It was in this city that Langston discovered the library and its children’s section. He spent much time in the library, often to escape teasing from other kids at his school. When Langston was twelve his grandmother died. She told him to never feel sorry for himself even when things were difficult. So when the ticket seller at the movie- theater told him she would not sell a ticket to a "colored boy" he found the Opera House. He was able to see the books he'd read come to life on stage. He honored his grandmother’s memory by taking her advice and not feeling sorry for himself and letting his anger get the best of him. Langston Hughes wasn't just a poet, he was also a war corespondent during the Spanish-American War, and an author of several books and plays. He died in 1967. This is the poem that was in my reader:

This is Langston Hughes.

Mother to Son

By Langston Hughes

Well, son, I'll tell you:
Life for me ain't been no crystal stair.
It's had tacks in it,
And splinters,
And boards torn up,
And places with no carpet on the floor—
Bare.
But all the time
I'se been a-climbin' on,
And reachin' landin's,
And turnin' corners,
And sometimes goin' in the dark
Where there ain't been no light.
So, boy, don't you turn back.
Don't you set down on the steps.
'Cause you finds it's kinder hard.
Don't you fall now—
For I'se still goin', honey,
I'se still climbin',
And life for me ain't been no crystal stair.

-Langston Hughes


About the poem:
  The poem is an expanded metaphor. That simply means that the metaphor expands throughout the poem. The metaphor is(can you guess?) life is a staircase! 

Book Review of The Invention of Hugo Cabret

Hugo and the book

Hugo and Isabelle in one of the illustrations

  The Invention of Hugo Cabret  by Brian Selznick is a great book that keeps you guessing to the end!! Hugo Cabret is an orphan, a tinker, a clock-worker...and a thief living in a Paris train station in 1931. Always on the run from the stationmaster who will kick him out if he finds out the truth- that the "man" who runs the clocks is a twelve-year old boy living in the clock worker's apartment. When Hugo's father died, Hugo was sent to live with his uncle, a clock worker. But when his uncle leaves him all alone,Hugo must find a way to survive- and a way to repair the mysterious automaton (a mechanical man) his father leaves behind. With no way to buy tools, Hugo steals windup toys  from a grumpy old man. Together the old man's ward, Isabelle, and Hugo discover an age-old secret, resulting in mystery, wonder, and magical movies!! The book has 264 full page illustrations that are astounding and in great detail. I give this book 5 stars.

Quilt Show

Mom really liked this one!

I loved that on this quilt, called" Love,"all the Bible verses  were about love!

The rose looks real!

I had to find an owl on a quilt for the scavenger hunt!

This was so cute! A perfect Easter gift!

This quilt was really whimsical and vibrant.

All the designs are made of quilt blocks!

I liked this one a lot.

We went to a quilt show at the Cain Center, and there were all kinds of beautiful quilts. Christopher, Andrew, and I got to participate in a quilt scavenger hunt, and had a great time finding all the items!  Some of the quilts were huge, and it was hard to find items for the scavenger hunt on them. We eventually finished the hunt and won some cute stencils.  While we were there, we got to see a quilting machine that quilts large, intricate designs very quickly. There were also raffles for quilted/quilting items like a quilted sewing bag or a quilt.We also ran into several people we knew! I had such a hard time picking my favorite quilt. I couldn't decide between all the rows of quilts, because some of the designers made their work look just like a photo, and others made the designs look like they were about to pop off the quilt, and I loved both methods!! It was amazing to see all the work that went into these quilts. The people who made them must be very talented- some even said it was their first time quilting!!

What I've been reading:

I like a lot of books, but some of the ones I've been reading  are:

The Mysterious Benedict Society series : There are 5  books in this series(including a puzzle book), and my brother and I have collected/read all but the newest book. We can't wait to read it!

Little House on Rocky Ridge- The Rose years

(I didn't take this photo- It's from  http://lhotp.editboard.com/t308-little-house-library )

Do you love the Little House books but have read them all? Well, you can now read the adventures of Rose, Laura's daughter. They are the true story of Rose's childhood. If you are an avid Little House reader, see this link -there are lots of Little House books!



I've also been reading Nancy Drew Books- I have the whole collection. S ee my post on one here:http://lac998.blogspot.com/2012/01/book-review-of-nancy-drew-10-password.htm




Photo Credits: http://www.google.com/imgres?hl=en&sa=X&biw=1024&bih=677&tbm=isch&prmd=imvns&tbnid=tvc66ooPg62EvM:&imgrefurl=http://market.swap.com/haves/the-mysterious-benedict-society-series-sharwellstudio-665362/&docid=WrOs4_hoDwAAOM&itg=1&imgurl=http://items8.images.swap.com/84/677584_450_338.jpg&w=450&h=338&ei=2OKST_zMC4me2AXpjP2bBQ&zoom=1&iact=hc&vpx=644&vpy=372&dur=1090&hovh=194&hovw=259&tx=136&ty=159&sig=112412355325724899215&page=2&tbnh=141&tbnw=188&start=18&ndsp=23&ved=1t:429,r:3,s:18,i:120and ...and http://lhotp.editboard.com/t308-little-house-library

Treasures of the Snow Book Review

Treasures of the Snow is a wonderful book about faith, forgiveness, and friendship. When a lonely and misunderstood boy named Lucien accidently causes little Dani Brinker to fall off a cliff, Dani's sister Annette vows she hates Lucien and will never befriend him or forgive him. The next day, Lucien, wracked with guilt, runs into the woods instead of going to school and meets an old man. The man tells Lucien he, too once did something wrong. He gambled his money away, robbed a bank, and was put in prison. His wife died while he was in prison and he hasn't talked to his two now grown-up sons. He tries to help Lucien by teaching the boy how to make a beautiful toy ark and animals for Dani, who is badly hurt. When Lucien, eager to apoligize, brings the toys to Dani, Annette confronts him at the door, smashes the ark and tells him to go away. Dani finds the toys admist the shattered ark and loves them, deciding that fairies must have made them.Lucien, with advice from the old man, carves a wooden horse for the school's project show. He lays it on the balcony one night when his mother calls him. Anette, who is walking by, sees the horse. She doesn't want Lucien to be happy because she is unhappy that Dani can never walk again. SO, she breaks the little horse. Lucien doesn't enter the carving contest and is very sad. He hears of a famous doctor who has come to town and askes the old man if he thinks the doctor can heal Dani. The old man says he thinks so, and gives Lucien his life's savings to pay the doctor. In the middle of a blinding snowstorm, Lucien sets off. He arrives at the office, faints, and nearly dies. No one can believe he came through the snow but they realize he did.

Read the book to find out what happens next!

Martin Luther King Study

We've been doing  a Martin Luther King study.

I made a lapbook, which you can get for free at http://www.homeschoolhelperonline.com/lapbooks/martin_luther_king_jr.htm:

We watched a video...

...and read some books.

Then I wrote a report:

Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. - A man with a dream

                                                                                                By Laura Ashley
“I have a dream today!”-Martin Luther King Jr.

 Martin Luther King Jr. was born Michael King Jr. on January 15, 1929 in Atlanta, Georgia. His father changed his name to Martin Luther after the German Protestant reformer. Martin, or M.L. as he was called, was a very bright child. He entered 1st grade at the age of 5. Martin first experienced prejudice when his white neighbors refused to let him play with their son, who had been Martin’s best friend. When Martin asked the boy why they couldn’t play together anymore, the boy told him it was because he was black. Martin never forgot that day.

M.L‘s father was a Baptist preacher, and he taught his three children Christine, Martin Luther, and A.D, to love God and obey him. Martin’s mother taught the children songs, and all 3 took piano lessons from a strict teacher. Their teacher would rap their knuckles if they made a mistake, so all of the children hated the piano. One night A.D snuck downstairs and tried to break the piano with a hammer! (It didn’t work. You can still see the piano when you tour Martin’s house.)

Martin entered college at the age of 15, having skipped the 9^th and 12^th grades. At first, he rebelled against his Christian teachings by drinking and partying, but after taking a Bible class he realized how wrong he’d been. While in college, he read a book on Gandhi and was inspired by his peaceful tactics. At the age of 19 he graduated. Deciding to become a minister, he entered Crozer Theological Seminary. After becoming a minister, he met Coretta Scott, whom he married. Martin joined the NAACP, the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, but he didn’t become famous until 1955, when Rosa Parks, an African American seamstress, was told to give up her seat on a bus to a white man, as was the law. She refused, and was arrested. E.D. Nixon, a key founder of the NAACP, paid her $14 bail.

    Outraged that Rosa had been arrested, Martin organized a peaceful bus boycott. It was simple-no one rode the buses! The bus company lost a lot of money. To trick the boycotters, they called the newspapers and told them a false story.”The boycott’s over!” they said. “Ride the buses!”But Martin and others found out about the trick and told people the true story-the boycott wasn’t over. Eventually, in 1956, the Supreme Court ruled that segregation on public buses wasn’t legal. The boycott was really over.

 But many other places were still segregated. So Martin started peaceful protest marches and sit-ins. He was a good leader/speaker, and people listened to him. Martin was jailed 30 times, even though he’d done nothing wrong. Police brutally attacked marchers-even children. But Martin kept working for civil rights.

In 1966, he gave his famous “I Have a Dream” speech at the March on Washington, which he led. Over 200,000 people attended. Martin was opposed to the Vietnam War. He felt that money spent on the war could’ve been spent on civil rights or helping poor people. Martin started a war on poverty. It was called the War on Poverty! He moved with his family to a Chicago slum and lived there for a few weeks to draw attention to the horrible living conditions there. He accomplished many great things.

  Martin was assassinated by James Earl Ray on April 4, 1968, on a hotel balcony. Many influential people attended his funeral, including Robert Kennedy and future president Richard M. Nixon. Martin Luther King ended segregation. Now anyone can eat in any restaurant, can watch a movie in any theater, and drink from any water fountain. They can sit on any bus, and they can go to any park-all because of Martin Luther King, a man with a dream.

Fast Facts on Martin Luther King

·        He was the youngest Nobel Peace Prize winner.

·        He was the Monopoly champion of his family!

·        He had 4 kids.