National Novel Writing Month is almost Here!

All,
When I look out at the beginning of English class, I often see the novelists inside my students, ready to jump up and begin. Many of you are ready to get to the work of putting words on pages...page after page, to weave a great adventure or a romance or a story about something mysterious and important or all of these at once. Some of you seem ready to begin with no idea where your inspiration will lead. Join me and other novelists all across the country!

If you're interested, join us for NaNoWriMo, National Novel Writing Month. Register at the official website and let Mr Potts know you would like special consideration when it comes to homework this month. I'll be joining you as a writer and trying to support everyone with inspiring activities in class too.

The good news...This is a volunteer opportunity (not required) and since we are using the Young Writers Program version, we will set our own word count goal. When I know how many of us are going to begin, we can decide a goal.

Looking forward!
--JP

Gossamer, a review by Anonymous #3

Gossamer by Lois Lowry
(by Anonymous#3)
When I went to get this book I had a short time to pick it out in the Harwood Union library. I saw the author, Lois Lowry and had heard her books, such as “The Giver” and “Number The Stars” were quite good. My expectations after reading the mini story was that it was going to be very interesting and with lots of detail.

Gossamer is a fantasy tale about small creatures called dream givers who gather objects representing good memories, then use the memories to create dreams. They then bestow the dreams on humans. Two little dream givers named Littlest and Thin Eldery help a cross little boy named John and a forlorn woman get along by bestowing good dreams and thoughts upon them. Littlest and Thin Elderly become heroes when they help prepare John and the woman to fight against nightmares.

Littlest, Thin Elderly and the group of dream givers face a great challenge when they sense a horde of nightmare-giving creatures gathering to attack John and the woman. Littlest and Thin Elderly must try and stop them before the horde destroys the boy’s past and future. Can they save them?

Lowry goes back and forth with using dialogue and description. In some chapters uses lots of descriptive language and in others she uses quite a lot of dialogue. There aren’t many metaphors or similes but this is one example: “The outdoors was awake and stirring but the little house was dark and silent.” In my perspective, Lois Lowry writes easy to read novels, allowing the reader to remember all of the important (or even minor) elements.

Lowry’s characters show a lot of personal emotion, and experience a lot of sadness. The following passage is a good example:
"They thought it was their fault. If they were nicer, or if she cooked better, or spent less money, or picked up the toys, or if they kept their hair combed a different way, then Fun Daddy would come back. So they tried. And sometimes it worked; that was what always threw her of balance, that it worked sometimes, and she could wheedle him out of his ugly mood and it would be the three of them again, laughing. But this happened less and less often. And not that night, the night he broke John’s arm, the night she called the cops, the night she said ‘no more.’" I wonder, why did John’s father break his arm? Why did his mother try so hard?

I love this book and recommend it to anyone because it is very creative and Lowry uses many visuals, allowing you to feel like you are there, in the story. Lois Lowry uses her amazing imagination and brings it all in to make a novel. The moral of the story is classic: if you set your mind to something you can accomplish it. I wouldn’t change anything about Gossamer; it’s well written and the ending is the best I’ve read.

The Votes are Counted...

After the official votes were counted, I see that Running from Soldiers, Ketzal Babysits is our choice! This idea got one more vote than Trolls, so those of you who never voted should remember how powerful your opinion might have been. In the end, only 48 students cast an official vote.

So what's next? Well, I'm excited to start writing, but honestly we're going to need to talk in class. I've never been on a writing team with more than 80 people before. We'll make a plan by the end of the week.

In the meantime, check out a new book review every day this week. I will also begin posting other student writings as well--haunted scenes, seven-word stories, tigers... And finally, National Novel Writing Month begins at the end of the week; I remember that several students are considering it. I'm going to give it a try this year too.

See you soon!

Strange People or Animals?

Some characters in this story live in the wild, like animals.

Enlarge the page (by clicking it) to see the details.

Trolls in the woods

This story has trolls and panic.

Read all about it--click the image to enlarge.

The Only Kids in the Village are Orphans

This mysterious village may hold a great story.

Click to read more and decide.

Cabin under the pond

This story goes into unusual places.

Go and see by clicking the image.

Cursed Forest

This story includes a witch, a curse, and a squirrel named Squishy.

Take a closer look by clicking the image.

Join forces to fight the raiders

After raiders attack, refugees from many villages learn to survive and unite to face their attackers.

Click the page, read more.

Camping Trip

This story begins with a camping trip. Click to read the rest.

Lost and Found friends

This idea seems to be all about the relationships...click the organizer to see them more clearly.

Elsa the Wolf

One character in this story turns into a wolf to save the others...read more by clicking the picture to see a full-sized organizer.

Running from Soldiers, Ketzal babysits

In the beginning, soldiers attack a village...
Click the image to see the full story idea.

Will finds Sam and get Help

Will breaks his arm in this story and there is much more.
Click the organizer to see a full-size version.

Titan's Curse, a review

Titan’s Curse by Rick Riordan

(book review by SuperScrubs13)

Rick Riordan writes fiction books about Camp Half Blood, where the campers are Olympian demigods. Zeus, Poseidon, Hermes, Aphrodite, Hades, or any of the other Olympian gods are their parents. In this book, as in his other books, Riordan launches the main characters into a perilous journey with life or death outcomes.

The Titan’s Curse, the third book in the series, is about Percy, son of Poseidon, Thalia, daughter of Zeus, Annabeth, daughter of Athena, Grover, a satyr (half-goat half- human creature), Zoe, part of Artemis’s archers but not a demigod, and Nico and Bianca di Angelo whose parentage is unknown. Zoe, Thalia, Grover, and Bianca are sent on a quest to save a goddess. Percy, the protagonist, is not included in the quest even though he wants to go, so after the four kids leave, he follows them to a museum where they battle a Nemean Lion (a huge lion with metal fur). They defeat the monster and decide to take Percy along. They hope to rescue the goddess and Annabeth, who earlier in the book fell off a cliff defending them from a monster. This story is interesting because they’re never safe. There’s always something or some one chasing them. You’re always on the edge of your seat.

The author’s style is quick and to the point. He doesn’t take lots of time to describe things, it just comes at you at a hundred miles per hour. Riordan also makes good use of dialogue. One part I enjoyed was when Zoe said,

“Separate on my mark. Try to keep it distracted.’

‘Until when?’ Grover asked.

‘Until I think of a way to kill it.”

Another part I enjoyed was,

“No,” the other girl ordered. ‘I sense no disrespect, Zoe. He is simply distraught. He does not understand.’

The young girl looked at me, her eyes colder and brighter then the winter moon.

‘I am Artemis,” she said. “Goddess of the hunt.’

After seeing Dr. Thorn turn into a monster and plummet off the edge of a cliff with Annabeth, you’d think nothing else could shock me. But when this twelve-year-old girl told me she was the goddess Artemis, I said something really intelligent like,

‘Um... okay.”

I really enjoyed this book and highly recommend it. The author put a lot of suspense in to draw you in and keep you reading. He had something suspenseful going on in every part of the story. I don’t think I would change anything if I was given a chance. This is one of his better books in the series.

New Writing!

Have you ever wondered what your classmates are writing for their homework assignments? Are you looking for opinions on new books to choose for independent reading? Well, keep coming back to HERO!

Everyday we'll be publishing a new piece of work from students in English class, so you'll get to see all the assignments from a variety of perspectives.

You can comment too--support your classmates with positive feedback or suggestions for future reading/writing. The first example of an independent reading project, a review of Rick Riordan's Titan's Curse is ready for feedback.