Category Archives: Sports

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Feb
24
2016

Who was Muhammad Ali? By James Buckley Jr

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I am reading the book “Who Is Muhammad Ali” by James Buckley Jr. which is part of the “Who Was” series. The book is about Muhammad Ali, the world’s greatest heavyweight boxer. He is famous for his great boxing skills. He was born January 17, 1942 and is now 74.

One big event was when he changed his religion from Christianity to Muslim. His original name was Cassius Clay but when he switched religions, he changed it to Muhammad Ali. It was a big event because the christian fans were angry with him. More importantly, he refused to be drafted because he didn’t believe in the Vietnam war. Muhammad Ali was convicted for refusing to go to the war and had to give up his championship belt and boxing until the court dismissed the case. One of his biggest fights was against George Foreman in Zaire, Africa. He wanted to earn his belt back to regain the heavyweight title which meant he had to beat George Foreman. Ali knocked him out in the 8th round and took back his championship. In 1984, he was 42 years old and diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease which affects the central nervous system. He had trouble speaking and walking and over time his face became frozen. Doctors felt that being hit in the head so many times caused the Parkinson’s disease. This was his new fight.

Muhammad Ali was a super talented boxer. He had 61 professional fights. He won 56 fights and won 37 of them by KO. KO means Knock Out. He was also a bragging poet to all his competitors. Here are  2 of his famous poems. “Float like a butterfly, sting like a bee, his hands can’t hit what his eyes can’t see.” The second one is “I have wrestled an alligator, I have tussled with a whale. I have handcuffed lightning, and put thunder in jail… Only last week, I hospitalized a brick. I’m so mean I made medicine sick.” Muhammad Ali was an activist and a peacemaker. He was on a mission to help the poor and the hungry. Also, after traveling through Africa, he realized that black people were not treated like second class citizens, like many black Americans. Many black Africans held very important jobs. Ali fought for equality in America.

I really enjoyed this book because I like boxing and because Muhammad Ali is a great boxer and funny with his poems. In boxing history, only a few men had ever won back a championship title they had lost. On October 30, 1974, Muhammad Ali did. Muhammad Ali always predicted how many rounds the fights would last and he was usually right. He said this in 1963 against Doug Jones: “Jones likes to mix, So I’ll let it go to six. If he talks jive, I’ll cut it to five. And if he talks some more, I’ll cut it to four!” I would recommend this book because Muhammad Ali was confident, talented, loved the sport and he was passionate about his career. The book teaches you about his life as a boxing champion, a family man and his life as an activist. Muhammad Ali reminds me of Rocky Balboa. Muhammad Ali and Rocky Balboa were both great boxing champions. In 1986, doctors found out that Rocky had suffered significant brain damage from all the blows to the head and in 1984 Ali was diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease. His brain was not making the right connections to some of his muscles anymore. I really enjoyed the book so I give it a rating of four stars. ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Jan
19
2016

Crossover by Kwame Alexander

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the-crossoverThe book I’m reviewing is called Crossover by Kwame Alexander. The book is about a boy named Josh Bell, also known as Filthy McNasty, and about his twin brother Jordan Bell, also known as JB. They are thirteen year old twins. The author uses poems and rhymes to describe their lives on and off the basketball court. The main characters, Filthy and JB  fight often as brothers do and the conflicts get pretty bad.

 Josh got the nickname Filthy McNasty when he and his dad were listening to a musician named Horace Silver and his dad says, “Josh, the cat is the real deal. Listen to the piano, fast and free, Just like you and JB on the court.” His dad dedicated the song “Filthy McNasty” to Josh.

One day, Filthy decided that he wanted dreads like his dad. While watching a replay of his dad’s old games, Filthy noticed that his dad’s hair looked like wings taking him higher and higher. Filthy is girl-crazy but never gets any girls. He is good in the paint (an area on the basketball court) and he can dunk. Jordan got the nickname “JB” from the initials of his first and last name. JB is bald, a great shooter, a girl magnet, and likes to bet with his brother. His dad is a sportscaster and was a former basketball player for the European League. His mom, also known as Dr. Bell, is the assistant principal at the boys’ junior high school.

Filthy and JB made a bet. The bet was that if the game was tied and it came down to the last shot and JB get the ball didn’t miss the shot, then he gets to cut off Filthy’s hair. If JB misses the shot, he has to walk around naked at lunch time. The twins changed the bet because they thought it was too bad. They changed it to if JB lost he would have to moon the nerdy group of 6th graders at lunch, but if Filthy lost, he would only have to cut off one lock of hair. The game was tied with three seconds left. He shot with one second left; the ball was flying in the air and went right into the hoop and Filthy lost the bet.

Filthy and JB’s dad has a heart attack and dies. Filthy had a one-on-one basketball game with his dad. While his dad was trying to dunk, he fell and passed out. Filthy screamed “HELP PLEASE!” to the crowd. His dad was rushed to the hospital and was in a coma because of a myocardial infarction. Myocardial infarction happens when blood flow to an area of the heart is blocked long enough time that part of the heart muscle is damaged or dies. After 19 days in the hospital his dad died at thirty-nine years old.

On page 14, Filthy’s quote helped me discover more about his character. “My hair is long my height’s tall. See I’m the next Kevin Durant, LeBron, and Chris Paul.” This quote helped me discover that he thinks he is really good at basketball like Kevin Durant, LeBron, and Chris Paul.

 

Jan
19
2016

The G-Man Super Journal by Chris Guiarroso

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The book that I read is called G-MAN SUPER JOURNAL AWESOME ORIGINS written by Chris Guiarroso. The main character in this book is G Man. All of G Man’s friends are getting super powers one by one. G Man is the only one without super powers so he uses a blanket as a cape then he gets super powers. This book takes place at G Man’s school in the future.

One thing that I found that was interesting was that every time one of his friends got a super power then G Man tried to get that kids super power the same way that kid had gotten it. I found this interesting because he fails over and over again. Another interesting thing was that a blanket gave him super powers. G Man’s family had a special blanket that they would use whenever they were sick to make them feel better. He got desperate for super powers and he thought since the blanket had magical powers to make his family feel better that he could use it for a cape to fly. He cut a piece off and he could fly. In the end his brother got jealous that G Man got super powers so he uses the rest of the blanket as a belt and then he flies too. One big event that happened was when there were superhero tryouts at G Man’s school. He couldn’t go because he got detention for talking back to the teacher.  It changed the whole book because he couldn’t go to the tryouts to get super powers because he was in detention.

G Man was determined because he kept trying to get super powers.  He kept failing but eventually he got super powers.  He was determined because when he had super powers he had to fight a bad guy and he didn’t quit until he won.  He was emotional because many times in the book he got mad and sad.  He got sad when he could not go to the super hero tryouts.  G Man was brave because when someone said to him “This is my flying area, you are not allowed to fly here,”  G Man said, “Well guess what, who said we can’t.”

I enjoyed this book because it’s about super heros and I like super heros. I would recommend this book because it’s really fun to read. There is a lot of action in this book. This book reminds me of AVENGERS AGE OF ULTRON.  It reminds me of this because at the end of the book they are all fighting the bad guy. In the movie, at the end they all fight the bad guy too. My rating for this book is five stars! It was so fun to read. I felt like it was happening all around me. It was so cool.  

Jan
14
2016

Hit and Miss By Derek Jeter and Paul Mantell

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My book is called Hit And Miss by Derek Jeter and Paul Mantell. This book is fiction based upon Derek Jeter’s life. The book takes place in Beverly Hills, California in 1977. The main character is Derek Jeter. Derek Jeter is now a legend. He used to play shortstop for the Yankees.This book is about a kid who has moved from New Jersey to Beverly Hills.

Derek as a kid was not any different from every other kid. In little league he played for the Red Sox. And he always loved baseball. Derek had a hard time fitting in as a kid. When he made a friend the other kids would make fun of him even more. But he did not care. For example, he would never listen to the people making fun of him. He would just walk away without a care. Derek would always play and practice baseball, he was always so dedicated. For example whenever his friends were going to an arcade or something he would always go home to play or practice baseball.

I enjoyed this book because it was very interesting and really made me think about the story. I liked how Derek would always think about the moment and nothing else. Every time one of his friends would ask him if he thought he would win or lose in a baseball game he would always say, “We’ll see later”. Derek would always set his mind on one thing and completely focus on it. I would recommend this book to anyone who loves baseball because the whole story kind of circles around baseball. I would also recommend this book to any Yankee fans. I would give this book 4 1/2 stars.

Dec
11
2015

Arnie The Doughnut: Bowling Alley Bandit, by Laurie Keller

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61uZ2PjMQXL._SY344_BO1,204,203,200_The title of the book that I read is called Arnie The Doughnut: Bowling Alley Bandit by Laurie Keller. The main characters of this book are Arnie, Mr. Bing and Peezo. The problem is that Mr. Bing’s bowling ball got stolen and nobody knows who stole it. The book takes place at  Lemon Lanes bowling alley.

There are many important events that happened in the book. One important isevent is that someone stole Mr. Bing’s bowling ball. This event is important because Mr. Bing needed to use it to win. The 2nd big event is the Bing Bats the bowling team won the finals of the bowling tournament. This is important because Mr. Bing never won a championship and now he did. One more big event is when Arnie finds Mr. Bing’s stolen bowling ball. Another big event is when Arnie decides to help Mr. Bing find his bowling ball after he wanted to help find the bowling ball. Arnie is really talented because he can sing a lot of songs. Like Take Me Out for Some Bowling it’s such a great song. Also he is always determined because when he accused some one who wasn’t the bandit he did not give up.   

I enjoyed the book because it was really funny when Arnie said he could not bowl because he is smaller than a bowling ball. It was also funny when Arnie met Einstein and Einstein said, “You + bowling = impossible” and there were a lot of other funny things too. That is why my rating for this book is FIVE STARS!!

Dec
10
2015

Zombies Don’t Play Soccer, by Masha Thorten

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9780545212847_xlgThe book that I am reading is Zombies Don’t Play Soccer by Marsha Thornton. The story takes place at soccer practice during the day. The main problem in this book is the Bailey Boomers, a soccer team, has a new coach named Grave, who turns into a zombie. She is making the soccer team practice till they drop. I think That is a sign that the coach is mean. When the Boomers first met their coach, they said her shoulders were bigger than a football player with their shoulder pads on.

The main  character in the book is the new coach, Grave. I think that Grave is trying to change her personality. At the beginning of the book, Grave was mean. She keeps telling the Boomers to hurry up and go and move it and make a goal and run faster. She is never happy with them, and the Boomers thought she didn’t look very nice.  She makes a big decision towards the end of the book, and that decision is to be nicer to the Boomers. This happens when the Boomers were playing one of the best teams and coach Grave snaps out of being a zombie (even though it never really says that she turned into a zombie).   

An interesting part in the book was when after practice  some of kids from  the Boomers hid behind a bush and spied on their coach because there was a strange woman who was yelling at the new coach. The strange woman said, “Come with me,” but the coach shook her head. Then the lady said that she would sleep in this town forever. I thought that meant she would have to stay here forever and become a zombie or something dead! The lady who was yelling at the coach turned out to be coach Grave’s grandmother. Then the next day when some of the Boomers were at practice the coach acted like no one was there. The coach was staring into space and thought  that there was no one there, just like a zombie! Here’s a fun fact from the book: If you try and look a zombie in the eye, it will move its head so it can’t look at you in the eye. That’s how you can tell if someone is really a zombie.

I enjoyed the book because of three reasons. The first reason was because the author used a lot of beautiful language. The second reason is that I thought the characters were really funny.  My favorite was Eddie because he wasn’t afraid of anything and he would make fun of their zombie coach. The third reason I liked this book was because the author didn’t really say whether Grave was a zombie or not. I would recommend this book to 4th graders and 3th graders because of the characters and how funny it is, and how the author keeps a lot of stuff secret and you have to find it out yourself. I would give this book 5 stars because of its great vocabulary and jokes.

 

Aug
30
2015

The New York Yankees by Matt Christopher

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The title of my book is The New York Yankees, The Most Successful Team in Major League History written by Matt Christopher. The setting of the book takes place in all four Yankee Stadiums. The first stadium was Hilltop Park, next The Polo Grounds followed by the two Yankee Stadiums.  The main characters were Yankees stars throughout the 1900’s. For example, Babe Ruth, Lou Gehrig, Mickey Mantle, Roger Maris, Joe DiMaggio, Reggie Jackson and Yogi Berra.  There were two major issues, other than baseball related events, that postponed games during a season.  They were World War II and 9/11.

 

When the Yankees first started, they were very good.  Then, the Mets got better and they took most of the Yankees fans away. Then the Yankees traded for Babe Ruth who was really good. But he was also known for arguing and having a bad temper. But the gamble to trade for him paid off because he got 60 home runs in one season.  Then the Yankees got even better by getting Lou Gehrig and Joe DiMaggio.  After a couple of seasons, Lou Gehrig got sick and was diagnosed with ALS which was then renamed Lou Gehrig’s disease (after he died).  After a while, Babe Ruth and Joe DiMaggio got old and retired and for a couple of years, the Yankees were very bad.  But their luck was not over.  A young star from the minor leagues went to the Yankees, his name was Mickey Mantle and all the sudden, they were good again.  After awhile, he started getting old and retired.  Again, the Yankees struggled for some time. But all hope was not lost when they got Reggie Jackson, a free agent. It was a big gamble because he had a huge ego but it worked out. In more recent past, the Yankees acquired big stars named Derek Jeter and Alex Rodriquez.  In their entire history, the Yankees have won 27 championships, the most in any major league sport and will probably have future stars yet again.

 

I enjoyed the book a lot. I think it gives you a lot of facts about the Yankees and tells you about each one of their stars.  I think the writer did a good job of giving details of each season.  A reader who likes the Yankees or baseball would enjoy this book. Also, if you like sports in general, I think you would like the book. I would rate this book four stars.  

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Feb
25
2015

Maniac Magee by Jerry Spinelli

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The book I read is called Maniac Magee by Jerry Spinelli. The book is about a boy named Jeffrey Magee who is homeless. After his parents died he moved to his Aunt’s house (like Harry Potter) but then ran away because the Aunt and Uncle hated each other. During the story he moves into four different homes. The story takes place in Two Mills, Pennsylvania.

 

Maniac is really generous because he always helps people out and fixes problems. There was a time when he helped a family do everything like dishes, cleaning, and repairing a stove. He is really talented at everything because he always scores a touchdown or wins races. For example he scored 49 touchdowns in one game making the score 295 Magee 0 Hands Down, which was his friend’s team. He is also very encouraging to people around him. He suggested to his friends to go to school even if they didn’t want to go. My favorite part in the book was when he first moved into a house with a girl named Amanda Beals. She was so nice and offered him books to read. Another good part was when he got a baseball glove that belonged to his old friend named Grayson for Christmas. The funniest part was when he was in church and he screamed A-MEN! and everyone laughed because he just couldn’t hold it in anymore. It was contagious.

I really enjoyed this book because it was an awesome adventure about a cool character. He shows us how to unite a black and white town. Maniac Magee made me laugh when he’d make jokes about himself. He joked about how he was so good at everything. I recommend this book because you can read it quickly and easy. I would recommend it to people who like adventure novels and stories about boys. This book is unique and I never read anything like it. Maniac Magee is like no other book that I read because it is about a homeless boy who is awesome at everything he does. I don’t know why or how.

I give Maniac Magee ***** STARS