Loser

         Loser is a fantastic story by Jerry Spinelli that has 218 pages. Donald Zinkoff is a semi-normal kid who loves school and wants to be a mailman, like his dad. Donald travels through first through fifth grade liking some teachers more than others. His first grade teacher, Miss Meeks, is one of his favorites because she has something called the Learning Train, which combines learning with having fun. Donald hates his second grade teacher, Miss Biswell, because she is very strict and yells at Donald whenever he says the wrong answer, which is often. She even has students sit in alphabetical order by their last name, something usually not done until middle or high school. During third grade, Donald misses over half the school year due to surgery to fix a stomach valve that makes him barf all the time. He is very unhappy about that because he loves school so much. He even tries to sneak out of his house a few times to go to school. He loves fourth grade because his teacher, Mr. Yalowitz seats them with Z's in the front and A's in the back. His trouble comes on field day (play day) when he gets last place in every event he participates in. Everybody starts calling him Loser like that is his actual name. Donald says that he will never do another field day ever. Then comes fifth grade, his final year at the school. Mrs. Shankfelder is his teacher and she believes in work, work, work! Donald doesn't like her very much. Finally graduation day arrives with all the awards come with it. Donald is delighted when he gets his diploma to go on to middle school and even receives an award for his hard work. This is a great book that I think anyone would enjoy.

Maniac Magee

Maniac Magee is a 184 page story by Jerry Spinelli. Maniac Magee is an orphaned boy who became an orphan when his parents were killed in a trolley accident. Maniac was then sent to live with his Aunt Dot and Uncle Dan who are very mean to each other. Maniac decides he can't stand it and runs away. One day he meets Amanda, who says he should come to live with her family. He gladly agrees and stays there for a few months, until Amanda and Maniac have a fight and Maniac runs away. Maniac stays with the buffaloes in the zoo. He is then spotted by an elderly zookeeper who takes him to his house and treats him like a grandson. They are very happy together until Greyson, the zookeeper, passes away, leaving Maniac once again homeless. He struggles to survive until someone else offers to have him live at his house. This offer lasts only for a few days, after a huge fight. Then Amanda goes over to him and demands that he come back and stay at her house. Maniac makes this his permanent place and Amanda's family officially adopts him. This is a great story that anyone will enjoy. 

Xtranormal Videos

Click on the link to watch my ancient egypt xtranormal video.
http://www.xtranormal.com/watch/7896879/
p.s.   Ignore the thing that says it is ratred R. (restrictred) Somehow that got there.

Here is a G rated one I made on the pyramids.   http://www.xtranormal.com/watch/7998689/

Here is one titled Robots and Fried Chicken. http://www.xtranormal.com/watch/7835425/

My Side of the Mountain

Jean Craighead George wrote the great 177 page book, My Side of the Mountain. Sam Gribley has a huge family that lives in a tiny apartment in New York City. He gets fed up with it and runs away to live in the Catskill Mountains. He starts out having nowhere to live and just sleeping in the bushes at night. Then he decides to carve out the center of a giant hemlock tree and use it as his home. He becomes very good at catching food to eat and ends up eating very well. He starts to realize that it is kind of lonely up in the mountains. Just then he finds an abandoned baby falcon and names her Frightful. She is great company and helps him catch food when she gets a little older. Then he hears a familiar voice- his dad's. He comes and stays through Christmas. When Sam asks how he found him he said that he left some things behind and a lady saw him while picking strawberries. He is now living in the dead of winter and his dad must go. Sam copes with all the challenges that are brought with winter and works to keep him and Frightful healthy until spring arrives. He soon meets a reporter searching for the "Wild Boy". He doesn't want to be well known, so he denies being him.. After more time of surviving the wilderness, he hears his dad's voice again. But this time he has the entire family and they have materials to build an actual house. Sam doesn't want this because it will spoil his life in the wilderness. His mom says that she still makes his decisions until he is 18 even if he lives in the mountains. This was a great book and I think anyone would enjoy reading it.

On The Far Side of the Mountain

On the Far Side of the Mountain, by Jean Craighead George, is 170 pages long. It is about Sam Gribbley, a boy who lives alone in the forest. He has a peregrine falcon named Frightful who he uses  to keep him company  and help him hunt. A conservation officer confiscates her because he is harboring an endangered species without a licence. Sam is visited by his parents, 5 brothers, and 7 sisters. Alice decides to stay with Sam. A few weeks later she leaves a note saying that she has left and will be back. Sam gets worried and looks for clues to find her. He meets various people along the way who give him clues about Alice's whereabouts. After days and days of walking, he finally finds her in a different mountain in a shelter she made. He sees that she got a baby hawk to help him get over the loss of Frightful. As he is telling her that she must let the baby go, Frightful is seen overhead. It turns out that it was a fake officer who took her. Alice, Sam, and Frightful then go back to their home in the mountain. I recommend this book to all nature lovers who enjoy a good read.

Frightful's Mountain (NOTE- all books starting with this are 2nd qtr books)



Frightful's Mountain is a 259 page story by Jean Craighead George. It is about a boy who lives alone in the woods with a semi-domesticated peregrine falcon named Frightful. Frightful must migrate south in order to survive the winter. However she goes the wrong way and ends up flying towards New York City. Two falconers see that she is going the wrong way and keep her at the falconry place until it is time for Frightful to live wildly in the woods again. When she goes back to Sam, he notices that she is more wild than she had been in the past. Frightful mates with another bird.  They nest and have babies on a bridge that is being repaired. Two kids protest the bridge work, telling the workers to wait until they are done raising the babies. The protest is a success, but two of the three babies are stolen by fake falconers. Sam and the police get the babies back to Frightful. Although Frightful is not as attached to Sam anymore, she still has a bond with him that can never be broken no matter how wild she gets. This is the third and final book in a series. I recommend it to anyone who loves books about nature.

My Camp Experience!!

Wow, camp was GREAT! The food was much better than I expected. All of the classes were lots of fun, but also educational. The bobcats found a Garter snake while on the Miwok trail. Free time and the loggers jamboree were both great! I just wish that lights out was a little bit later. I never got tired of stepping outside the cabin and seeing the wilderness and the rest of Calvin Crest!
THANKS CALVIN CREST!!!