Category Archives: Non-Fiction

Genre

Jun
07
2017

Who Was Michael Jackson? by Meagan Stine

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Who Was Michael Jackson? by Megan Stine

Anyone remember the moon walk? Anyone remember Michael Jackson? The king of pop? Well you are going to learn all about him today. Michael Joseph Jackson was born on august 29 1958 in Gary, Indiana and died on June 25, 2009, in Holmby Hills, Los Angeles, CA. His best selling album was Thriller in 1982. He mad over 27 million dollars! My favorite song from the album was “Beat It” because it is super catchy.

Michael Jackson is cool person who liked to groove on the dance floor! He was nice and always happy. The song “Bad” was actually about being cool, not being bad.

I liked the book because it has lots of facts about him. I would recommend this book to a person who likes music. I would give this book 10 out of 10 and 10 is the highest  because it is fun and cool!   

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 -⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

May
02
2017

Who Was King Tut

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Image result for who was king tut? the bookThe book I’m reading is called who was King Tut, it takes place in the early 13oos, in the desert, back then, life was very different. People got married at the very young age of  ten. Also, kings and queens and other people of the 13oos wore clothes that were much more different than the clothes and accessories we wear today. The Kings dressed very fancy with beads on their fancy hats and crowns. King Tut grew up in the desert. Many of the Games, toys and clothes that once belonged King tut are in museums. When the museums first opened with all the treasures inside, people went crazy trying to get in. People were amazed by all the famous King’s treasures. So who was King Tut? King Tut was a boy king and the ruler of Egypt who died before he was twenty. He is Also a three thousand year old mummy! He was born around 1343. He became the king of Egypt when he was 10 years old. Back then when someone died, they would paint pictures of them. But it was not only to remember them and honor but the people believed that the pictures  could come back to life. So the artists made sure to include all the persons arms and leg so that the person would be able to walk when he/she “came back to life.” Also the artists had to draw the person when he/she was young and and healthy. If the person came back to life they would want to look young and healthy not old and sick like around the time they died. Although not born of royalty, Nefertiti looked very much like she belonged with the people of royalty. Nefertiti was Tut’s wife.  Nefertiti was very beautiful. In the 3100s, people believed that there were these gods:

Thoth: God of the moon. Anubis: God of cemeteries. Isis: God of protecting children.

These gods were important to the people of Egypt. The most important god of all was Amun-Ra, god of the sun. he appeared in human form. Every day day he rode across the sky in his chariot. When king tut was under the age of twenty he died. After his death he became a mummy in egypt. His mummy in in museums today. We do not know if Tut had children. There were two baby girls next to Tut’s mummy those may have been his children we don’t really know. A lot of things are still unknown about tut, but by the looks of things, life was NOT the same and that is what we know for sure. I would recommend this book if you’re into history and I would give it four stars out of five because it was really good but it just wasn’t my favorite book in the world. Thanks for reading!

Apr
19
2017

Who was Daniel Boone

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¨Who was Daniel Boone¨

by Sydelle Kramer

Daniel Boone killed a bear when he was sixteen. I learned this in the book “Who was Daniel Boone.” This book is written by Sydelle Kramer and takes place from 1734 to 1820. The setting is mostly in the woods and nature. Boone likes company and not being alone. Boone had a very sad life. Almost all of his kids died. When he, his son, his wife and many more relatives were trying to get to Kansas, his son and other relatives went to get supplies. They did not return. The skeletons of all of the relatives who went with his son were found later.

Boone is determined, strong and pays attention to things that other people may not see. For example, when his daughter was captured by the Shawnee and the Cherokee, she made a trail for people to see but nobody saw it except for Boone. He was determined because when he first went to Kansas to hunt game,  (game is the same thing as animals) all of his things were taken and he was told to go back to his town and stay there – but he did not since there was better game in Kansas. He was strong and had skill because when he was 16 he killed his first bear; which requires the skill to find and aim for the heart and the strength not to panic and miss.

 

I think a couple of key things were important to Boone’s development. Being alone made Boone become a different person. People usually take companionship and family around them for granted but when all of Boone’s family either left him or died, he realised how much it meant to have family around. Killing his first bear was also important because it triggered his “hidden potential.” After he killed his first bear he was going on long hunts and killing a lot of game (although he could not use everything because it was to heavy).

 

In conclusion, I think the book was great and had lots of action and adventure. I like this genre so this was a great read for me. I thought it was interesting when the Indians had to test if Boone was fit to be one of them. The test was very dangerous but a little silly if you ask me. A group of Indians hit the one who is trying to get to the checkpoint with sticks. That person was Boone. He passed the test on his first try. My rating is 4 and a half stars. I would recommend it if you like action and adventure. There are other “who was” books so you can check them out too!

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.

Feb
28
2017

The Story of Texas, by John Edward Weems and Ron Stone

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The title of my book is The Story of Texas. It was written by John Edward Weems and Ron Stone. The Story of Texas is about all the important  things that have happened in and to Texas from the early 1500’s to the late 1900’s. A few of the historic people that are included are Santa Anna (the President of Mexico when Texas was fighting for their independence), Sam Houston (the first President of the Republic of Texas), Stephen F. Austin, Mirabeau Lamar (the second President of Texas), and the Indians of Texas (mostly the Cherokee). These people appear in all the stories in the book. The Parker family is only in one story. This book has many different events in each part; there are four parts. This book will help you with your knowledge of Texas because it has good stories, good pictures, and good descriptive words to go with the pictures. It tells you a lot of history.  

The Texas President, Sam Houston, was wise, brave, and consistently right.  He was wise because when he made all the laws of Texas, almost all of them worked. He was brave because you have to be brave to be the first president of the Republic of Texas, and he commanded people. He was consistently right because he predicted that the Confederacy would lose. He said that Texas was going to fall when they joined the Confederacy (Texas did fall apart after that war). Sam Houston was the most important person in this book.

An interesting part in the book is when people fought at the Alamo. This was interesting because they held up longer than everybody thought they would. Another memorable part is when the book explains how people lived. That’s memorable because the way they lived was very different from the way we live. There are no duals now. And there are much less criminals. The construction of houses is very different. One more important part is when the Texans in the military fought at Rio Grande and beat the Mexicans. This is important because it’s a big part of how Texas gained independence from Mexico. All these interesting historical facts about Texas will teach you about the people and land of the Lone Star state.

This book is good because it teaches you about a state (if you’re not from Texas) you don’t know about. Another reason I like the book is that there is more than one story. If you don’t like the first part, the second part will be totally different. Mirabeau Buonaparte Lamar, the second President of Texas, reminds me of George Bush. Lamar reminds me of Bush because Bush wanted to wage war on Iraq. He was wrong to go. Lamar wanted to be in the Confederacy, forcing Sam Houston to resign as President. Texas was basically destroyed after the war just like Iraq was. I would rate this book four and a half stars. It’s cool to read about a way of life that is different from your own. I really recommend this book because Texas is not in the same location as LREI is and this book is all about Texas.

 

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

Little House On The Prairie By Laura Ingalls Wilder

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Little House On The Prairie by Laura Ingalls Wilder 

 

mia-book-blog

Wolves Cashing Man

 

An important event that happened was when the wolves were running through a man riding a horse. While this was happening the horse was walking slowly even though the rider was scared. This scene was important because the rider’s life was at risk and the horse stayed calm which made him be alive.

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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