Dragon Road

291 pages of greatness describes Laurence Yep's book, Dragon Road. Calvin Chin and his best friend Barney are residents of San Francisco's Chinatown. They like to challenge strangers at basketball and make bets to get money. One day when they are playing a game, the coach of a basketball team sees how good they are, and offers them a chance to play on the San Francisco Dragons. At first Calvin doesn't really want to play on an official team. But when they hear how much they get paid for each game, they decide to do it. They pack up most of their things and set off to play basketball. The van that they use to travel in is in horrible condition, so they have to stop for repairs along the way. The team makes many stops throughout the country and wins most of their games. Then they arrive in Idaho and see snow for the first time in their lives. They stop and play in it for a while, then set back off to play more games. On the way, one of their car's tires pops and they don't have a spare. The tire has patches all over it, so they are actually patching patches now. Then they arrive in a tiny Chinatown in the middle of nowhere. They stay in a motel instead of the van and wash their clothes and have some Chinese food. The season is starting to come to an end, so they play even harder. Calvin hurts his wrist and can't play for a few games, so he is pretty upset about that. Then comes the last game, which they win. They start the long journey back to Chinatown. When they get back, they find out that Calvin's father died, and they have a funeral. Calvin and Barney both agree that they loved their experience on the team and can't wait to come back next season. I recommend this book to sports lovers and anyone who loves a good read.

Skunk Scout (NOTE- All books blogged on starting with this one are third quarter books)

Laurence Yep is the author of the 179 page novel, Skunk Scout. Teddy lives in San Francisco's Chinatown and his celebrating his birthday with his family. When he opens his uncle's present, it is a can of mosquito spray. Teddy asks why and his uncle says that his birthday present to him is that they are going camping on Mount Tamalpais. Teddy has never been out of San Francisco before. His brother Bobby asks to come along with them. Teddy is hesitant at first, but when he sees how much Bobby wants to go, he gives in and they start planning the trip. Bobby goes to the library and gets several books on camping, so when the day finally comes, they are all prepared and ready. When they got to the campsite, Teddy had the brilliant idea of putting the hamburger in dry ice instead of regular ice. For the rest of the trip, they ate nothing but marshmallows, candy, and berries. Their uncle trips in poison ivy on one of their hikes and has to stay in the tent for two nights. Then on their last day, they set out on a long hike to the sea. But on the way, they get lost and Teddy has to use his survival skills to get them back to the campsite. They never get to the ocean, but all three of them agree that this was their best day of the camp. When they get back to Chinatown, they decide that they are not the type of people who are made for camping. Teddy says that his idea of vacation is a triple-feature at the cinema. Anyone who loves reading would probably enjoy this book.

Devils Arithmetic Responce

D)- Explain how Hannah came to better understand her family and their traditions after her "experience".
     Hannah came to better understand her family and their traditions because she saw what they all had to go through to be the family that they are today. Before her experience, she didn't really know what her family and religion had gone through. When Hannah was in the Holocaust she learned that she should have followed her cultures customs and listen to the stories her relatives had to tell her. She learned that everything she was doing was for a reason, not just to get together and have a party. Hannah also learned to understand what the number tattoos on some of her relatives arms was, and what that picture meant to her aunt. Hannah's experience helped her to better understand her family and traditions.

My Random Blog For School

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/