Weekly Reading Entry-Fox

Many old fashioned children's picture books start off with the phrase " Once upon a time", like Cinderella, or Snow White. But nowadays, picture books are becoming more than just books that a small child would read. Instead of carrying the moral "If you find a man to take care of you, your life will be complete", there are morals and themes that are more meaningful.

In the beginning of the picture book Fox, one-eyed Dog is carrying Magpie in between his big yet gentle jaws the cave he calls home. Magpie's wing had gotten burnt, and she couldn't fly anymore. In despair of not being to fly, Magpie faints. When she awakes days later, Dog takes Magpie to a lake nearby, and tells her to tell him what she sees. Of course, Magpie sees the reflection of herself on Dog's back. They are together and always will be.

"You will be my wings and I will be your missing eye." This sentence rings out multiple times in Fox.

Soon, Fox is acquainted with Dog and Magpie. He says them running looks extraordinary. Dog welcomes Fox to live in his cave with Magpie. But Magpie is scared of Fox. To her, his stench of envy and loneliness fills the cave at night. Then one night while Dog is asleep, Fox tells Magpie to go with him, that Dog's running is nothing compared to his. Magpie replies, "Dog is my wings and I am his missing eye." Fox repeats his question twice more, once while Dog was at a pond, then again that night. That time, since that morning she hadn't felt like she was flying, Magpie replied "I am ready."

Fox ran so fast it DID feel like Magpie was running! But then, in a cave in the desert, Fox left Magpie there, he said

"Now you and Dog will know what it is like to be alone."

Usually, Fox would be considered the "bad guy" but I feel bad for him. No one knows what his life story was. He could of had a loving family that suddenly died from disease and he, for some reason, didn't get it, or his family was killed by humans or something. It's Fox's fault for having so much envy, but no one knows what happened to him to be like that.

Weekly Reading Entry-Snail Mail No More

Everybody has a problem with something; people they can't understand, things that happen to them, etc,. Elizabeth has family problems- recently, her father became addicted to alcohol, an alcoholic. He is ruining everything for Elizabeth, her little sister and her mother. Luckily, Elizabeth has a friend who she writes to a lot, now e-mails, though.
I also have a few friends who live somewhere else in the world. We send letters to each other and have fun. But we aren't really as close as Elizabeth and her friend Tara are. They talk to each other ALL the time. They also see each other a lot. I've never met my friends, they live in South Korea and Japan. Even though it's a bit strange talking to someone you don't know from meeting them, it's fun to have a connection when you HAVEN'T met them, too, because lots of things are different and you get to learn about their culture and how they live.
I also feel bad for Elizabeth and her family. It must be really hard to have your father become an alcoholic all off a sudden, then pass away from getting into a car crash. I hope (and I don't doubt) that will not happen to any of my parents anytime soon.

Weekly Reading Entry-Death Note

Isn't the world such a terrible place? When you think about it, it is. There's war, poverty, etc. Every 2.2 seconds, a child becomes an orphan. Meaning, when I'm finished typing this, about...a lot of children will be orphans. Imagine if one day, you're in school, dreaming off and you see a black notebook lying on the sidewalk in the sun. When you get outside and pick it up, you read the cover- Death Note. Of course it's just a prank, like those chain texts that say if you don't pass it on you'll get cancer or something. Or is it?
This happens to Light Yagami, a serious, straight-A high school student. But the Death Note isn't a game or a prank. It's for real.
Five days later, Light is visited by a shinigami, a God of Death, Ryuk.
Ryuk says that if Light succeeds in getting rid of the Earth's criminals, he will be the only evil one left. And that left me thinking. Light is doing a good deed in getting rid of the world's most dangerous criminals, but he is also being terribly bad. He's murdering criminals with the Death Note, using only heart attacks so everyone could realize someone was tipping off the bad guys. If he succeeds in his scheme, he WILL be the only criminal left. But what WILL happen?

Weekly Reading Entry- The Mysterious Benedict Society and the Prisoner's Dilemma

IF YOU FAIL, ALL IS LOST. These are the words Mr. Benedict says to the children of The Mysterious Benedict Society. What a beautiful, great way to try and reassure one, don't you agree? These words are printed in bold on the front extension of the cover, along with a blurb and another sentence: IS THIS THE END OF THE MYSTERIOUS BENEDICT SOCIETY? Once again, reassuring. But, these sentences bring the reader deeper into the book. These sentences also made me more alert.

In The Mysterious Benedict Society, Reynie, Sticky, Kate and Constance "embark on a daring new adventure" and encounter many foes. The ones you meet the most are Ten Men. Ten Men are men dressed in suits and carry briefcases, like normal buisnessmen might. But, in the briefcases are weapons like no other. Pencils as sharp as daggers, laser pointers that can cut off your ears, and eight more ways to hurt you. That is why they are called Ten Men; they have ten ways of hurting you. Which pleads the question- HOW DO YOU SPOT A TEN MAN? Simply smell out their expensive cologne, see their pale faces and briefcases, and run.