Survivors: The Empty City By Erin Hunter

 

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Lucky is a lone dog. He is trying to stay alive after the big growl (a earthquake) shook everything up. Buildings are caving in and pipes are leaking. Disaster is caving in for Lucky, his life is falling apart piece by piece.  Then Lucky finds some leashed dogs (dogs that are owned by someone ) there names are: Bella, Martha, Mickey, Bruno, Sunshine, Daisy, and Alfie. Can they survive in the wilderness? From Lucky’s perspective, he just wants to be alone. He decides that he’ll teach these dogs to survive and then leave. Lucky has the wisdom and he is the best at strategy he is a very quick thinker. Bella is kind to the other dogs. Martha has webbed paws and can see things out of the corner of her eye, Mickey is fast and smart. Bruno is strong and buff. Sunshine is small and keen Daisy can brighten up everyone’s hearts to hope when there is none. And Alfie is a good digger. Can these dogs survive?

 

The most interesting and important parts in the story were when Lucky escaped from his cage and the building he was trapped in collapsed. He and a dog named Sweet both got out of the building and he Sweet became a pack for a few days and then they split. After Sweet left, it changed Lucky’s perspective on survival. Lucky’s then decided “i’ve got to get a pack and be with someone because I’m lonely”.  Which was a big change from the old Lucky who said “ I’m a lone dog. I don’t need people and dogs to care for me.”  Lucky felt this even more when Martha saves Alfie from drowning.  Lucky changed his mind and started thinking maybe the whole pack thing isn’t so bad.

 

Lucky is independent because he chooses to do his own thing and be alone all the time. This was revealed when Lucky said “ I am a lone dog and I will never be in a pack”.  This is how Lucky thinks of himself and his life ahead. Lucky is inspiring  because he inspires the other dogs in the book. For example when, “I want to be just like you Lucky! I want to hunt!” said Daisy about Lucky. Lucky is intelligent because he always has good strategies. “We are going to going to come up the right side of the hill then Sunshine and the smallest will creep up on them from the forest so you guys will be look out” said lucky about his great plan to creep up on the other dog pack and surprise them.

 

I enjoyed the book a lot because of the amazing adventures of the dogs. To be a dog, I mean that would be awesome! This book is great and I definitely enjoyed it. I recommend this book to people who love dogs and who are going through situations like moving. The book makes you feel stronger and bigger. After I read this book, I said in my head “yes, totally reading the series!” I think the book “The Tiger Rising” is related to this book because the main characters are feeling the same thing. They want to get out of their situation and make changes in their life. I would rate this book ***** 5 stars.                          

 

                                                     

When Life Gives You .O.J By, Erica .S. Pearl

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This book is about Zelda ( but everyone calls her Zelly ) a eleven year old who just moved from Brooklyn to Vermont. This girl lives with her Mom, Dad, Brother, and her grandfather Ace. Zelda really wants to go home to her house back in brooklyn, she also wants a dog but her parents just say no, because they think it’s too much to take on in there small apartment. Ace is pretty crazy and has a big booming voice like an elephant you could probably hear his voice from a mile away. One day she wakes up with a jug on the side of her bed that says, “meet me in my room it’s important!” – ACE. When she goes to Aces room Ace is at the side of his bed watching .T.V   she asks what the jug thing is all about and Ace says it’s a practice dog and she could use it to get her a dog but if she is going to have to name it, so she names it OJ after all it is a orange juice jug! In astonishment she takes on the challenge and walks the dog three times a day (morning, day, and night) , and feeds him at lunch time with dog food and water, and on every walk she must unscrew the cap of the jug and pour out the wet dog food on the curb of the sidewalk. Her goal is to get her parents to notice her responsibility, and get Ace’s scheme done by the end of the summer. The setting of this book is in the summer in Vermont mostly at her house mostly outside and mostly with OJ.

 

At some point in the book she meets a new friend besides her other friend at sleep away camp. The new friend is Jeremy who is her neighbor     and surprisingly thinks oj is a great idea and that changes her perspective in moving to vermont ( that moving to vermont was not a bad idea ). Also at one point she has a sleepover at her friend’s house and then it really  backfired and everybody started being really mean to her. And that changed her perspective in staying friends with allie the girl who went to sleep away camp. One part was when ACE her grandpa gets a heart attack and goes to the hospital and she has to go home from her sleepover and that really changes her emotions and life. Before ACE has the heart attack she throws out ok because she thinks it’s her fault that ACE had a heart attack and that really changes the way she thinks about everything and ACE. The two adjectives i would describe Zelda with are, serene because she is quiet and keeps a lot of things in her head and to herself. Then for the second adjective, she is very circumspect because she was very catious and made sure nobody saw her walking OJ.

 

I really enjoyed the book for a fun- to read book and learned some things from the book and reading the book was a senior adventure into this 10 year old’s life. I really liked this book because it was about dogs and a girl with the love for her grand father. This book is also really interesting because it’s about her grandpa and usually it’s about the mom or the dad or BFF. And that’s why i found this book really interesting to read. I would rate this book a 4 because at some points in the story it got really boring.