Reading

     This year I honestly do not think that I have grown as a reader dramatically. There have been some small changes. At the beginning of the year and during the summer, I did not have a desire to read books for fun. I would read maybe one outside book, but I read so slowly that it could take me half a year to finish. This year has changed that though. I read more than usual, and I am actually enjoying the books I read. I still read really slowly though. This is one reason reading is not my favorite thing. It takes me forever to get through one book, but I am still glad that I read more now than before.
     These are some books that I have read outside of class assignments:

• Michael Vey 5
• Ranger's Apprentice: The Burning Bridge
• Michael Vey 6 (current)

     These are the books I have read for class:

• Lord of the Flies
• Multiple Short Stories
• Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian
• Purple Hibiscus 
• Macbeth (currently)

     These lists are very short, but for me, this is a big accomplishment. I also can not read more than one book at a time. This makes it hard to read a lot of books in one year. I feel like I have truly grown as a reader in small ways, but to me, they are still really big. Below are some examples of my work while reading books for class.

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     This is a reading response from the first quarter. I had just started reading Ranger's Apprentice: The Burning Bridge:

The book I am reading right now is called, Ranger’s Apprentice: The Burning Bridge, by John F. Flanagan. This book is the second in its series behind Ranger’s Apprentice: The Ruins of Gorlan. The first book was one of my summer reading books that I also wrote a blog post on. Even though I am only still near the beginning of the book, it is still an amazing book. So far this book is filled with mystery, adventure, suspense, and action. 

The thing I like most about this book is the suspense. The main characters showed up at a border post which came up empty, so they go to two different villages which are empty too. So the suspense is what they will find at each village until at one some bad guys show up to fight them. This book so far is also different in the way that ever other chapter is telling a different story. I would recommend this series to all readers who like action stories that take place in medieval-like times.

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     This is a reading response shortly after starting Lord of the Flies. We had not read much yet, and we were still learning the plot of the story.

     When I started this book, I thought it would be like any other book I have read about people trapped on an island, but I was wrong. As I got farther into the book, I realized it would be a much more entertaining book since it portrays a huge group of kids who have an island all to themselves without any adults. It will be very interesting to see how these kids try to survive while wanting to goof off and have fun like kids.

     The plot of this book has been very interesting because the kids have already created an organized system. So far they created a group of hunters, elected a leader, started a fire, created rules and given jobs to some people. These children have surprised me so far with their responses to their new life on this island. It will be very interesting to see how the book will turn out, and what the children will do next.