Craig

The Giver Journal Entry 1

1 After analyzing the books appearance what clues does it give you? 2 The tone of the book after listening to the first page? 3 What do you think this book is about? Predict!

I think that the book is about a war. I think it is about a war because he said that the plans weren’t aloud to fly that low and when that plane did, I got the assumption that the book is about war. After I looked at the book, I get the clues that this book will be about a guy in the war or a guy caught in the middle of a war. I don’t really understand how to find the tone of a book but in my mind I might say that the tone of the book is scared or sad.

Reading Journal: Island Trilogy by Gordon Korman

Journal Entry 1 Jan 6, 2010 I chose the book “Island” by Gordon Korman because Gordon Korman is my favorite author. I also chose this book because I have started to read one of his books called Son of the Mob. The way that Mr. Korman writes is very fascinating; he uses a different kind of language that we don’t use on a day-to-day basis. My brother read this series of books and the way he explained the series to me was the there was a plane crash in the ocean and only 6 kids survived but they are stuck on this island and they have to survive. I stated reading it and it is not how I thought it would be. I thought that it would be exactly what my brother told me it would be, but it isn’t. Since I started reading I was very confused because I couldn’t relate anything that was going on or that people were saying to what my brother told me. I think that the more that I read the more that this book will interest me even more then right now.

Journal Entry 2 Jan 8 2010 For my Character I chose J.J. J.J is a rich spoiled kid whose dad is a movie star. J.J took champagne to a grade-eight dance, he sold the video of his fathers pool party to Entertainment Tonight, he shoplifted on Rodeo Drive and her drove his father Harley into the window of an art gallery. Every time he got into trouble, his dads assistant had to cover or get him out of trouble. After J.J drove his dads Harley into the window, his fathers assistant drew the line and said that is enough and sent him on this cruise. J.J is very mad and he wanted his father to pay his way out of this ship but he wouldn’t. J.J doesn’t listen to anything anyone tells him to do. J.J doesn’t really have a goal other then getting out of this trip but, it isn’t really working. J.J told the captain that his dad would get him out of this trip but the Captain knows that his ad specifically told him to keep his son on the trip.

Journal Entry 3 Jan, 2010 Question #4: Would you like to be one of the characters (acquire a personality trait)? Which of the characters would you become, if you could? Why? If there's something about the character that you'd want to change, what is it? Yes I would love to be a character on the ship. I would probably be a kid that listened to everything that the captain and Mr. Radford said and I would never disobey anyone. I would be shy and not talk to anyone but I wouldn’t be distant for it all. If I could I would like to be Charla Swann. Charla is a smart, talented and comforting kid. I would realized that I would like to be Charla when the crew got to g swimming in the ocean and every one was commenting on Charla and was asking her why she was on this trip.

Journal Entry 4 Question #10. How have you changed after reading the book? What did you learn that you never knew before? I learnt that you always have to listen to who ever is in charge other wise you could get hurt or kill someone. I also learned that safety is key and that what ever you are doing, you have to make sure that you are being as safe as possible. I haven’t really changed at all but I think that if I ever go on some sort of cruse or boat ride that I will listen and I will to everything with caution.

Journal Entry 5 Question #12. Would you like to read more books by this author? Have you already read other books by the author? Why or why not? Yes I would like to read more books by this author. I do because the books e writes have many different feelings and it is hard to interpret what they say at that time but after you read a little farther is all starts to make sense. This author is my favorite author. I have read one other book by this author and I really liked it. It was a sequel and I never go to read the second one so I am hoping that after this sequel I will be able to read it.

Journal Entry 6 Question #13. Write a brief summary or review of the book. What happened? What didn't happen? Capture what it is about the book that stands out (or doesn't stand out). Luke, J.J, Will, Lyssa, Charla and Ian all boarded the Charting a New Course (CNC) boat at different places around the world. As soon as they were all on the boat they had work together as a team to sail around the world, or at least parts of it. All the kids were sent on this boat because of a problem. Luke, Charla and J.J were on the boat for disobeying the law, Will and Lyssa were on the boat because they always fought and sent each other to the hospital because of injuries and Ian was there because he had no friends and he watched way to much T.V. As the trip progressed, more things started to happen. In a rough storm, the captain got thrown over board by the mast breaking and hitting him. The kids and the other ship hand tried to repair the boat and keep it from sinking, it didn’t help. They could pump water out all day but nothing helped, the next morning, they would be up even more then they were before they started the day earlier. When the ship hand realized they were sinking he took off in the life raft leaving the 6 kids on the sinking ship. When they get the motor running and the water pumping out a wind rolls in. the motor quits and Lyssa has to fix it. She gets it fixed and when she goes to turn it on, a towel falls in the engine room. The towel catches on fire and starts a fire. You have to read the rest of the book so see how it ends.

Journal Entry 7 Jan 21, 2010 Question #11. Who else should read this book? Should anyone not be encouraged to read this book? Why? Would you recommend the book to a friend or fellow classmate? I would recommend this to my friends and my family. I would really recommend this book to my best friend Hannah. Hannah likes to read books like this one. I would also recommend this book to my brother because he told me that he read the beginning of it but never go to finish it so I think it would be perfect for him. I would recommend this to an adult because this is more of a kid’s book. The way the author writes it is a way for kids to read it, not adults

Journal Entry 8 Jan. 23,2010 Question 6. Does the book leave you with questions you would like to ask? What are they? Would you like to direct your questions at a particular character? What questions would you like to ask the author of the book? Are they questions that you may be able to answer by reading more about the author's life and/or works? Yes the book leaves me with questions. Some questions I have are: are the CNC people watching them? What happened to Mr. Radford? I wouldn’t really like to direct these questions to anyone. I would ask the author what inspired him to write this book. Yes!

Journal Entry 9 Jan. 25, 2010 Question #9. What are your favorite lines/quotes? Copy them into your reading log/journal and explain why these passages caught your attention. “What a joke! Its better to have nothing than a thimbleful.” “Hey, Ian. Don’t you think its time to close up the Encyclopedia Boronica and give us all a break?” “It’s no use! We might as well be throwing Dixie cups of Kool-Aid!” “Excuse me, Uh – Mr. Rat-face?” “You guys should join the circus – the flying Archie brothers!”

Journal Entry 10 Jan 27, 2010 Question #14. Write about the characters? Which one is your favorite? Is there a character you hate/detest/despise? Why? What traits could you change about the characters that would change how you think about them? Do you think that any of the characters represent //real// people? Does anything about a particular character seem to be related to the author's true personality--who the writer is? Luke: came from an average family but got caught up with the law. He had a gun in his locker and had two choices. One choice was to go to Williston Juvenile Detention Facility for 2 months or to go on the CNC (Charting and New Course) Trip for 4 weeks. Luke is some one that you could count on if you needed something and he is also very helpful with everything. J.J.: He is a spoilt rich kid who gets what ever he wants when he wants it. He got in trouble with the law as well but in a different way then Luke did. J.J. always did something wrong that would have gone in the paper or that would have set him or his dad to jail and his helper or nanny always was there to get him out of trouble. Until one time the helper got mad and went to J.J.’s father and that is when they both decided to send J.J. on the CNC trip. Will & Lyssa: They are both the kind of kid that would help others and do what they are told to do but when it comes to each other, they don’t do it at all. Will and Lyssa fight all the time. They will get in an argument and just keep going and going until it gets so bad that one of them hits the other and either knocks them out or one of them has to go to the hospital because of a serious injury. Charla: Ian:

Journal Entry 11 Feb 4, 2010 Question 7. Are you confused about what happened (or didn't happen) in the book? What events or characters do you not understand? Does the use of language in the book confuse you? How did your confusion affect how you liked the book? Is there anything that the author could have done to make what happened (or didn't happen) more clear? No this book is really good and it is not confusing at all. The characters are confusing but I understand it after I read a little farther into the book or chapter. No I understand the use of the language very well. Since there was no confusion it didn’t affect the book at all. 