Category Archives: Biographies

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Jun
09
2017

Farmer Boy by Laura Ingalls Wilder

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I read Farmer Boy by Laura Ingalls Wilder. It is the second book in the Little House series. Farmer Boy tells the story of the childhood of Laura Ingalls Wilder’s husband, Almanzo Wilder. This book describes a year in nine-year-old Almanzo’s life, including the many chores (feeding livestock, milking cows, and cleaning out the barns) involved in running his parents successful farm. Almanzo grew up alongside his elder siblings Royal, Eliza Jane, and Alice, and they had a happy rambunctious childhood on the farm, where there was always plenty to eat and plenty to do. The book details the work required on the farm in the different seasons, like picking ice from the river for the ice house in the winter and helping with summer harvesting. Almanzo’s parents taught their children the importance of honesty, patience, and the value of hard work. The setting of this book is upstate New York, near the town of Malone, in the 1860s.

 

Almanzo is hardworking, dedicated, and extremely hungry. He is hardworking because he wakes up everyday before 5am to feed the livestock, milk the cows, and clean the barns. In winter, Almanzo hauls logs, helps fill the ice house, and trains a team of oxen. In the spring and summer, he plants and tends crops. When his father does not need him to help on the farm, Almanzo occasionally goes to school. After school, Almanzo and his brother Royal have more chores, making sure the animals are fed, warm, and clean. Almanzo is dedicated because he spends most of the book trying to prove to his father that he is responsible enough to train his father’s colts. Almanzo first has to learn how to train his own calves, Star and Bright, before he is even allowed to go into the stable with his father’s horses. He is eventually rewarded for his perseverance and patience by receiving a colt of his own. Almanzo is also extremely hungry. There is a description of at least one meal in every chapter of Farmer Boy.  The amount of food Almanzo eats is amazing! Almanzo consumes a full dinner, three slices of pie for dessert, and (very soon after) apples, apple cider, and popcorn by the fire for a snack.

 

One of the most interesting parts of the book is when Almanzo’s parents go away and leave Eliza Jane in charge of the other children. It was enjoyable because the children spend almost all the time their parents are away eating desserts and candy (they manage to use an entire barrel of sugar in a week). Another interesting part of the book is when Almanzo is trying to teach his calves Star and Bright to haul lumber. It is amusing because Almanzo’s father rode past him when he saw that Almanzo had fallen into a ditch with his calves. After the accident, Almanzo “had to sit down and rest a minute. But he got up, and he petted Star and Bright and spoke to them encouragingly… That was one trouble Almanzo had got out of, all by himself.” His father refused to help him because he believed Almanzo needed to learn to be independent, and to solve his own problems if he was going to become a good farmer. Almanzo does not seem angry with his father, and respects his way of teaching.

 

I enjoyed this book because it thoroughly describes what life was like on a farm more than one hundred years ago. I also liked the book because Almanzo and his siblings were likable and relatable characters, even in 2017. They fought with each other, were sometimes annoyed about helping around the house, and complained about going to school. I would recommend this book because it is entertaining and educational. Farmer Boy  is almost like listening to a parent or grandparent tell stories from their childhood. This book is obviously similar to the other Little House books and television show. This book does not remind me of many books I have read because I usually do not read books with a boy as the main character. I would rate this book 4.5 stars.

Jun
05
2017

Wherever I Wind Up By R.A Dickey

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Have you ever wondered about R.A. Dickey, a retired baseball player? You should read Wherever I Wind Up. It is by R.A. Dickey. In the book R.A Dickey goes through the journey of being a baseball player. He grew up poor going to 2 dollar baseball games. As his life moves on his parents end up splitting up. As an adult he knows that he will not get a job because he is not smart enough. After college he got drafted to a major league baseball team. He then goes through a journey of going up and down from the majors to the minors. He travels as a free agent going from team to team. He starts as a Twin and then goes to the Marlins and then the Twins and ends up on the Mets. While he travels failing in baseball  his wife Anne lives in Nashville with his three kids. They keep separating farther apart both in their relationship and distance. He is a knuckleball pitcher. In the beginning of his career his coaches told him that he would have to be an almost always knuckleball pitcher to stay in the majors. He has trouble with his pitching when he moved to the Marlins but good things might be ahead on the Twins. The book takes place in Florida, Arizona, Minnesota, New York and Nashville. He is always moving. There are other places where the book takes place but these are the main places.  

Three ways that I would describe R.A. as is depressed, nervous and resilient. He is depressed because he misses his wife and feels like she might leave him. Being away all the time brought their relationship down and that caused him to become depressed. They are close to being divorced but they still love each other. R.A is nervous because he believes that he will never stay in the big leagues. He is nervous that the knuckleball will not work and the decision that he made will never pay off. Lastly, R.A. is resilient because he will sometimes not pitch his knuckleball even though the coach tells him to. He still mixes in a lot of curveballs and fastballs. This is why R.A is an interesting person.

My three favorite parts of the book are when R.A gets stuck in the Mississippi River, when he goes up to the majors for the first time and when R.A and one of the major league teammates went out together. The time when R.A got stuck in the Mississippi River was one of my favorite parts. This was because I liked how he used words to paint a picture. In his life he is sinking and in the river he is literally sinking so it is a metaphor. Another one of my favorite parts was when R.A first made it to the majors. This was one of my favorite parts because I liked how he felt so proud. He was proud because his sacrifices paid off. He was happy because he could get a chance to make good money. Another one of my favorite parts was when a baseball player on R.A’s team bought him clothes. He was getting clothes because he did not have enough money before to get them. This was one of my favorite parts because I loved how humble the other baseball player was.

I really enjoyed reading the book because I liked the story behind it. I liked how he faced so many obstacles and overcame all of them with a positive attitude. I loved the fact that it was the player who wrote the book because it gave a real addition to the content. I would recommend this book because it is really interesting to read behind the scenes access of a baseball player. His life story makes the book something to definitely read. There are some sad parts of the book and there are some mildly inappropriate parts and if you do not like this it is not a book that you would enjoy. Two books that remind me of this book are Who Was Jackie Robinson and Who Was Babe Ruth. They remind me of this book because they are narratives of baseball players lives just like this. I would give this book 5 stars.

Jun
05
2017

Samurai Rising By Pamela S. Turner

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Samurai Rising
By Pamela S. Turner

(Book Blog by Lorenzo Brigode)
If you love Samurai then keep reading, if not, you are about to love Samurai. Get ready to immerse yourself in “The Epic Life of Minamoto Yoshitsune” in Samurai Rising by Pamela S. Turner!

Samurai Rising is a great book with small, beautiful illustrations (by Gareth Hinds) that help you understand what was going on in that time period. There are a lot of hard words (and I mean it) in the book that are in Japanese, but never fear! Just flip to the pronunciation key to know precisely how to pronounce each word. If you are confused on where something happens you can flip to the map and key. Plus right before the index there is a, “And If You’re Still Not Satisfied” with more information on Samurai. If even that is not enough for you, there is a timeline, notes on names and dates and chapters, plus a glossary and a bibliography.

If you think I’m done talking about Samurai Rising, you are so wrong, I’m just getting started with how great this book is!
Samurai Rising is about Samurai families in war: The Minamoto, The Taira (the main characters), and then The Imperial Family and The Hiraizumi Fujiwara (are lesser characters). Samurai Rising takes place from 1160 to 1189, a long time ago! The reason behind the war is when Yoshitsune’s Father took the Retired Emperor’s side in a political dispute, when the Retired Emperor won Yoshitsune’s Father expected money and a grand title. Instead he was named Minister of the Stables of the Left. A rival samurai also backed up the Retired Emperor and received a much more grand title. Yoshitsune’s Father attacked the Retired Emperor’s palace wanting to pry titles out of the Retired Emperor while making him strip titles from Taira Kiyomori. Yoshitsune’s Father was expecting for Taira Kiyomori to flee, instead he fought back, and so the war started.
Taira Kiyomori let Yositsune live. He thought, “The Taira won the war, surely the scattered sons of Minamoto–and little Yoshitsune in particular–could pose no possible threat. Kiyomori was wrong. Utterly, fatally wrong.”

Samurai Rising is a history book told in a really easy to understand and fun to read format. Samurai Rising is so good that it seems like it is fiction, but it’s not! All of the content in Samurai Rising is 100% non-fiction, Samurai Rising has everything; history, betrayal, spies, assassins, friends. You name it! In Samurai Rising there is sure to be something for everyone to like.

Samurai Rising is the type of book that sets you reading in bed at midnight with a flashlight under your covers. So you know there is a lot I did not give away, so read Samurai Rising.

On a five star rating I would give Samurai Rising 5 stars -⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Mar
17
2017

Strong Inside, by Andrew Marahiss

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The title of my book is called Strong Inside by Andrew Marahiss. The book is a biography about a basketball player named Perry Wallace, who is facing a lot of racism and segregation. He is black in the 60s and in a still segregated college in Nashville, Tennessee. He is grown enough to understand segregation.  People put signs on his door saying mean things, they talked trash in basketball games, the fans threw food at him, and he was not allowed to be part of a fraternity group because he was black.  People treated him differently and it influenced him a lot.  He became more quiet, knew to avoid people and stay away from segregationists. Perry Wallace had to be a lot more cautious.

Perry Wallace is quiet, mature, and perseverant. He is quiet because he grew up in the South and he learned to be shy and stay away from all of the terrible things that were happening there.  Instead of speaking up and standing up to the bullies he stayed away from all of them and didn’t do anything and let the racist slurs roll off his back.  Wallace is mature because he always knows what to do.  He drove away when there was a riot, like someone who is mature would, instead of getting into it. Another instance is when he was the first black player on the Vanderbilt team. He could handle all the pressure; that’s what’s mature about him.  Perry Wallace is mature because when people hang bad signs on his door, he doesn’t go berserk about it.  He is perseverant because he doesn’t give up when all of the racist segregation happens.  He didn’t give up when in a Mississippi game all the fans were talking trash and throwing things at him and not giving him a chance. He still played a great game. Perry Wallace has great characteristics because he is all of these things.

One of the most interesting parts is when the author talks about Perry Wallace maturing. This is the part I chose because it is not how a typical sports story would go. A typical sports story would intro the player, talk about him or her, then talk about the games and end the book by making the player win or lose. That’s what a typical sports story would be; but not this time, this book talks about Perry improving. It talks about his experience of being a black athlete in the mid-60’s. He is threatened, and he is cursed at. Another really interesting part of the book is realizing how he was treated. I’m just saying, it was hell. Why do you think he was treated that way? The worst place he played at (racist wise) was Starkville Mississippi and Auburn. Perry called it “Four Days in Hell”.

I liked this book because it is unique and it tells a different story than most other sports books do. The time period is very interesting to me since it’s not how we would live today. We don’t have segregation anymore and sports players of all colors, and other people, are allowed to do whatever they want. I have two feelings about recommending this book to other students. I think you should read this because it’s such an inspiring and realistic story.  It teaches people how hard it was for people of color in the 1960s.  Also, I do not recommend this book because there are a lot of curse words in it. This book reminds me of the movie Race; it is about Jesse Owens and him overcoming racism just like Perry Wallace did. Overall, I would rate this book with three and half stars. The reason I only rated it with three and a half stars is that it’s not a kid’s book, because of that I thought that it was a little slow moving. If you are a kid that likes grown-up books you will like this book, but if you’re a kid that likes fantasy and things like that, then this probably isn’t an amazing book for you, but otherwise it was great.

Mar
17
2017

The Duel By Judith St. George

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The Duel is about the parallel lives of Alexander Hamilton and Aaron Burr. The book is set in different years.The first chapter is growing up and another chapter is the Revolutionary war. There are a lot of interesting facts behind their lives, and the musical Hamilton does not mention all of them like one of the facts is that Aaron Burr had a wife and a daughter named Theodosia. If you read this book you would know what I am talking about, if you didn’t, then read this book.

        I personally think that Alexander Hamilton is brave, resilient, and fast. He is brave because he fought in the Revolutionary war. He is resilient because he is living through rough times in life. One rough time in his life is that his mother died when he was 12 years old . Lastly he is fast because when he said he would get something done he would do it quickly.  He was fast because he would write like he was running out of time.

        The plot of the book is telling you about the abnormal lives of these two extraordinary men. One of the most interesting parts of the book is when they tell you that a hurricane happened in Alexander Hamilton’s town, and that he didn’t drown. That is interesting because it was a pretty severe hurricane and that he did not die was amazing because a lot of innocent people died from this tragedy. Alexander made his way to New York City after the hurricane to go to college.

        I enjoyed this book because I like to read books about history. It fascinates me because of these stories that people told non-stop and that means a lot. I would recommend this book if you like to read history or biographies because this book is pretty much a biography. This book reminds me of a musical called Hamilton because it is about Alexander Hamilton and Aaron Burr. I would give this book five stars because it is so interesting and unique. It is unique because it is going back and forth with their stories kind of like wonder, so the author is making a comparison between the two characters.

Feb
16
2017

Who Was Leonardo da Vinci by Roberta Edwards

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The book I read was “Who was Leonardo da Vinci?” by Roberta Edwards. It takes place between 1452 and 1519 in Italy with Leonardo as the main character. Leonardo was a real artist in the time of 1452 and 1519. Leonardo’s main problem was that he had great inventions and ideas, but not a lot of them worked. For example, his pair of wings did not turn out successfully.

 

Leonardo was very creative. He drew different things he wanted to create like his pairs of wings. He liked to He liked to make things in his free time. Some of these were very complex so you had to be intelligent to make them as well as to use them. Leonardo chose to adopt a little child named Giacomo, whom he spoiled to no end. I bet Leonardo’s life would have been different if that had not happened. Since Leonardo was spoiling him he probably spent some money for him and maybe if he did not use that money  he could’ve have put it to good use. The book stated that “Leonardo was not the only popular artist around that time. There were two others. Their names were Raphael and Michelangelo.” Michelangelo and Leonardo really did not like each other but on the other hand, Raphael was a big fan of Leonardo.
I really liked this book for its inventions. I also liked the story and the main character. I highly recommend this book because it is really interesting and hard to put down once started. The book also appeals to people who enjoy art and its history. My rating is 4 and a half stars.

Jan
26
2017

On The Court With Kobe Bryant By Matt Christopher

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On The Court With Kobe Bryant

  He went straight to the NBA and  was an player Amazing in high school. It took him a long time to decide what to do and he decided to go straight to the NBA. I find that interesting  because almost every basketball player plays in college also he was a good student. He had a rough beginning of life. But he turned his life around. He was one of the best basketball of all time. The book tells you how he became an all-star it also tells you about his childhood. he is my favorite basketball player of all time.

Jun
14
2016

Life in Motion, by Misty Copeland

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imgresThe book I am reviewing is called Life in Motion, by Misty Copeland. It is an autobiography mostly about Misty’s childhood, but some is about her life today. She was questioned as a black principal dancer at ABT (American Ballet Theatre). My book takes place New York City. Misty Wrote this book in 2015.

There are a couple of main events in my story but I do not want to spoil them so I will just say one. The one is how Misty has to move from place to place because of her mother’s love life. This is important in the book because it makes Misty have to move to different schools and she feels a little alone because once she makes a friend she has to leave him or her. There were two parts of the book I liked a lot. Misty was devoted to dance, and when she couldn’t afford to dance at her studio so she moved in with her choreographer and visited her family almost every weekend. I liked that because it means she will do whatever it takes to become a real dancer. I also really liked when she first started dance because of her drill team coach. I liked that part because it means even though she was forced to dance she found a really big interest in it and has been doing it ever since.

Misty is very determined. She was the first African American woman to become a principal dancer at ABT. Even though her mother could not afford dance Misty would not give up and worked really hard to get where she is right now. Misty is also brave. Some of the time Misty’s family had to search the couch for money because they had literally no money. Misty was very brave through those hard times. Misty is extremely focused. She won’t let anything distract her from dancing, but also when she was on the drill team she showed focus. Everyday after drill practice she would go home and practice while her family watched sports. “This is for all the little brown girls” is a very important quote from my book. It means that Misty really cares about brown girls that have had their dreams broken because of their skin color. She wants kids or adults to feel comfortable in their own skin.

I really enjoyed this book. It makes me feel confident about my dance. It also makes me feel confident in my own skin. I would recommend this book for boys and girls. It is a really amazing book. If you want to hear more of Misty’s intelligent words you should read it. I think this book is very unique because it is not like any other book and has a lot of wise words that make people feel very strong. If I could rate this book I would rate it five stars because I really like it.

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Mar
18
2016

Who Was Steve Jobs? by Pam Pollack

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  13543010The book I have read is Who Was Steve Jobs? by Pam Pollack. The name of the series is Who Was _______? Steve was the creator of Apple which is a brand of technology. Steve didn’t create things like tablets, phones, computers or MP3 players. He improved them. For example an phone was a small flip phone and instead of a touch screen like we have you would press buttons to call and email people. What Steve did was make it with a touch screen. On this new phone you play games, listen to music, email, text, call, use a map basically anything a computer could do back then. Steve’s goal was to improve and update technology. Steve lived from 1955 – 2011.

A big event that happened in 1997  was when Steve returned to Apple from when he was fired in 1985. That was important because he became more successful after his return. Another big event is when Steve’s introduced the Macintosh computer to the world. That is a big event because after that Apple got a little more popular. I thought it was weird and interesting how Steve didn’t wear shoes to meetings because he thought that it was a good way to express he he was.

Steve was funny because, like I said he doesn’t wear shoes to meetings. He is also funny because he says a lot of jokes. Steve is  also smart  because he knows how to code technology. And he can build a bunch of different electronics.  And he is always creative because he made more fashionable and daily use electronics. And where very cool blazers. Steven said “Being the richest man in the cemetery doesn’t matter to me. Going to bed at night saying we’ve done something wonderful , that’s what matters to me.

I enjoyed learning all the facts about Steve and hearing about his life. I recommend this book if you’re into electronics, coding, creativity and technology. I rate this book 4 and and half stars.

 

Mar
09
2016

The Boy Who Harnessed Wind

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Can you build a windmill? William Kamkwamba can. The name of my book is The Boy Who Harnessed The Wind. The main character is a boy called William Kamkwamba. One big problem for William and his family is a famine that causes many deaths in where he lives. It takes place in Malawi, Africa around 2013. That’s where William lives. William made a windmill when he was only 14!

 

In Malawi Africa they use a different type of money. It is called Kwacha. Three kwacha is less than one American dollar.

 

I think William is an interesting character with an inspiring story. One word I would use to describe William is creative. For example, William and his family don’t have enough money for a real soccer ball. William makes one out of plastic bags that have been used already. He calls them jumbos. William also doesn’t buy toy cars or trucks. Instead, he makes them himself. He makes them out of things that some people would call garbage, but the things he uses can be used to build anything. He uses empty milk cartons, bottle caps, and the insides of tree branches to build his toy cars and trucks. It’s very interesting to learn how he uses these materials to make things that you wouldn’t typically think would and could be made out of those materials.

 

William is many things. But he is definitely not negative! William is a very optimistic person. William thinks about ways to make bad things good, and then he tries to make it reality. For example, one big problem for William and his family is that a drought hits Malawi and it gets very hard to survive because after the drought there was a famine. Luckily, they still have some maize from the year before the drought. William’s mother goes to the mill with corn to get flour.  She then uses the flour to make a type of cake that she sells to all of the hungry people for three kwacha each. Half of her profit goes to William’s father’s friend who is a trader. This trader gives them a pail of maize for the money she gives him. This maize gets ground into flour and baked into more of the cakes for the next day. The other half of the profit goes to William’s family to buy food for themselves so they can survive the drought as well.

 

I have one more thing that I think is an extremely important character trait for William. William learned how to successfully build a windmill in very hard times. You would have to be incredibly smart to do that. He learned from books in the public library. He read, collected and built in his free time, (which he had much of since he had to drop out of school because he could not afford it). He read about how to make one certain part of a windmill, looked around for that thing or replaced it with something that would work just as well as the real thing, and then he would build it. He got so many items to help him build the windmill from looking in places like the back of a bar or a scrap yard, and he stored them all in his room. Sometimes he would get told off for a dirty and messy room, but it was worth it because in the end he actually built a windmill and helped his family.

 

There were two events that happened in the book that I found most interesting. The first thing that I found really interesting was that even though people thought William was losing his mind from the hunger while he was building his windmill, William never gave up. William kept on going through it, through all of it and never even thought about giving up. In the beginning of the book everyone thought William was just like them. Then they thought he was crazy, but they were wrong. He built a windmill. He never gave up. He stayed strong the whole way through. It shows that there can be more to a person than you think there is. Another very interesting thing that I read in the book was that he learned all he knew about windmills from books. He sat down day after day after day after day and he read and he read and he read and he read. I think it is very inspiring and makes me want to read more to see what I can learn from books.

 

I really enjoyed this book. One reason I enjoyed this book was it was a fun read and kept me on edge about what would happen next and if William would survive and if he would make a windmill or not. I would recommend this book to someone who likes autobiographies, nonfiction books, a little bit of sad concepts and someone who likes to read about other places in the world and what they are like. This book reminds me of the book I am Malala. She struggled and wanted to help other people in her home country and so did William. Overall, I would rate this book five stars out of five stars, (one meaning I didn’t like it all and five meaning I loved it and I want to read it again.)