Hero

Zach Harriman's life had never been perfect with his dad traveling all over the world as the president's special adviser and "troubleshooting diplomat". Most kids would think having a famous dad would be the best thing in the world but not Zach. I mean, it's pretty cool being the famous Tom Harriman's only child and living with him in Manhattan, New York but his dad is gone all the time. But today he receives the most shocking, grievous, heart wrenching, surprise of his life that will change his life forever.... his dad is dead. His dad has died in a  air plane accident coming from Zagreb, Croatia on "official government business". The puzzling thing is that he didn't radio any airport towers and there was no sign of a struggle. Zach believes this is no accident and he's determined to find out what really happened. When he arrives at the crash site near Amagansett, New York he meets "Mr.Herbert" an old man who shows up at the crash site  in the middle of nowhere and claims      to know Zach's father. What would you have done? Well Zach doesn't trust him. At the end of their brief conversation Mr. Herbert says Zach's dad had the magic, zach had the magic, and then disappeared. WHOAAAAH!!!! Zach thinks "Herb (My personal nickname for Mr. Herbert)" knows about his dad. The actual interesting part begins now. As Zach fights the Bads (Basically all the terrorists and troublemakers in the world) he learns more and more of his magical abilities such as super speed, lightning quick reflexes, and a first step Allen Iverson and Derrick Rose could only wish for. Between fighting Bads, learning new magical abilities, and learning about his dad Zach learns nothing is as it seems.

The Batboy

The Batboy

                                                                        My third Independent Reading Blog is about a book called "The Batboy", by Mike Lupica. This book is about Brian Dudley, a batboy for the Detroit Tigers (His local team). His ex-big leaguer dad, Cole Dudley, is now a pitching coach/scout for the Arizona Diamondbacks and is divorced from his mom, Liz Dudley. His dad loved baseball more than anything in life, even Brian or his mom and was no good at anything except for baseball, even being Brian's dad. Brian is shocked when his best friend (and ace starting pitcher on their 14 and under all-star team) tells him that his baseball idol, Hank Bishop, is trying to make the comeback of a lifetime at 35 years old. He was caught taking steroids a few years before and was given a 50 game suspension casting a shadow on all of the records he set and his whole career. Brian still is psyched when Hank arrives to the Tigers clubhouse, but when he tries to talk to Hank he is utterly rjected by a "Did I talk to you?......Then don't talk to me". "When Hank Bishop starts to show his true colors, Brian learns that life can throw you a curveball."

         I would recommend this book to anyone who is interested in sports books and likes baseball. I would also rate it 5 stars out of five stars. Very, very good book. Some recommended books would be Heat, Heart of a Champion, Safe at home, and The Big Field.

Payback Time

Payback Time

Written by: Carl Deuker

Blog Author: J.P. Ardison

               My Independent Reading Blog is for a book by Carl Deuker called Payback Time. This book is about a mildly heavy school news reporter Daniel "Mitch" True who has big dreams of going to Columbia University. After he is not elected to be the editor of the school paper he believes his hopes are beyond reach. But as the sports reporter he and his photographer, Kimi, who is one of the smartest and nicest girls in his grade, find a story worth their while. Why is 6'5" Angel Marichal who can "throw a football through a brick wall", crush blockers, demolish running backs, and catch anything thrown within 7 yards of him sitting on the end of the bench almost all season? Why does he pretend to be a horrible player in front of the coach? Why did his friend pull out a gun when a car passed by them playing catch? Why did the Coach pull all of his records from Angel's personal file? Finally, why can't they find any trace of him at any schools in the nation? As Mitch and Kimi unravel the mystery they may get more than they bargained for.

                I would rate this book 5 stars out of 5 stars, 10/10, 2 thumbs up! I would recommend this book to anyone who liked Gym Candy, Heart of a Champion, Runner, On the Devil's Court, High Heat, Night Hoops, Painting the Black, or any other sports books. Likewise, I would recommend any of these books to someone who has read and liked Payback Time. It brings together the excitement and intensity of football with the sadness of being insecure, a very little romance, and a surprising, jaw-dropping, and overall fantastic mystery. If you need me, I'll be in the library curled up in a chair reading another book of Carl Deuker.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pcYi72OGXr8&feature=related

Brisingr

 

Summary

My independent reading book was Brisingr. This is the third book in a series called the Inheritance Cycle by Christopher Paolini. This book is about a young man named Eragon and his young, blue, female dragon Sapphira. Eragon is a dragon rider otherwise known as a Shur'tagal or Argetlam. He and Sapphira are the protectors of Alagaësia. Eragon gets a new sword, blue like Sapphira, and names it Brisingr. Eragon, Sapphira, Roran, Arya, and the Varden are preparing to battle Galbatorix, Murtagh, Thorn, Shruikan, and the rest of the empire, and Oromis and Glaedr make their final stands. "Oaths are sworn... loyalties are tested... forces collide... who will win?"

 

Dictionary

Murtagh: Son of Morzan, forced to serve Galbatorix with his dragon Thorn.

Alagaësia: The land in which the the book takes place.

Shur'tagal: Dragon Rider

Argetlam: Silver Palm (Riders have a bond with their dragons through a gedwey ignasia, asilver mark on their hand)

Galbatorix: Crazy, evil, ruler of the empire, stole his dragon from his elders.

Thorn: Murtagh's young, red, stolen dragon.

Shruikan: Galbatorix's stolen, black, old, and crazy dragon who is forced to serve Galbatorix. He is a giant dragon, "When he flies he blots out the stars".

Brisingr: "Fire" in the ancient language, also name of Eragon's new sword.

Oromis: Eragon's elf trainer. He was 800 years old when he died fighting "Galbatorix". He and his  dragon, Glaedr, are crippled. Oromis suffers from constant seizures.

Glaedr: Oromis' dragon. He is gold, over 700 years old, and has only 3 legs. One of his legs was cut off by Formora, amember of the Forsworn.

Forsworn: Evil riders of the old who tried to kill all of the true, honest riders. Includes Morzan, Galbatorix, and Formora. Galbatorix is the only live member.

Varden: "La Resistance", the rebels fighting the empire. Maior people include Nasuda, King Orrin, Eragon, and Sapphira.

Roran "Stronghammer" Garrowson: Eragon's step-brother, uses a hammer for a weapon, and has killed over 190 soldiers in one battle.

 

 

Pictures



       Murtagh

         Alagaësia

        Gedwey Ignasia

                   Galbatorix

         Shruikan         

     Brisingr      

        Oromis  

                      Glaedr

                            Nasuda

        Roran "Stronghammer" Garrowson

Blog Post #1

My favorite text as a child was Mat Sat On a Mat. Just kidding! I'm still a child so my favorite book would have to be either Brisingr, The Hunger Games, any book in the Percy Jackson and the Olympians Series, any book in the Kane Chronicle series, or any book in the Heroes of Olympus series. I re-read each one at least 10 times each. I like them because of the action, the many points of view, and the many things going on at once. I also like them because they are moderateley long.