Brooklyn Bridge

Dear Mrs.D,
I have just started reading Brooklyn Bridge by Karen Hesse. So far it is about a family who sells bears. In the family there is Mama,Papa,Joseph,Emily, and Benjamin. They are looking for a new place to live so they can expand their bear business. When they go out to meet the real-estate worker they meet Pauline Unger. She was sent by Uncle Meyer. They soon find out that she is supposed to be getting married this weekend. But Pauline doesn't have feelings for her Russsian anymore. Later on they go and visit their aunts. Since Aunt Beast and Aunt Mouse, the names the kids gave them, live together they only have to make one stop. And it's convenient because The Queen, which the kids named also, doesn't really like anybody but Joseph. When they get there Aunt Beast and Aunt Mouse start sharing family stories and think it would be just swell to have the family samovar there too. So Joseph goes to get it from The Queen. When he arrives he finds out that The Queen sold it to buy cosmetics. So he returns empty handed.
In this story there is imagery. There are parts where I can see it, hear it, and feel it. I can see it when Joseph arrives at Aunt Beast and Aunt Mouse's House and they all sit to listen to family stories. I can hear it when The Queen says she sold the family samovar for the money. I can feel it when Joseph returns to Aunt Beast and Aunt Mouse's house with nothing but himself.
In this story there has been feelings. I think the author is trying to tell a story about a family just getting on with life and basing it all to do with the Brooklyn bridge. In the book It tells about how the family has to cross the Brooklyn bridge to get to their aunts house's. The feelings in this book change throughout the story. In what I have read so far I am anxious to find out what will happen next.
So far this book has been a hit. It's even written by a Newbery medalist. I love how this author describes all the character's feelings and their personalities. So far I know why this author is a Newbery medalist. I am reading Brooklyn Bridge by Karen Hesse.
~Love,
Haley

World History Book

Dear Mrs.Dubnik,
This week I have been reading about Japan. By Stanley M. Burstein and Richard Shek. The section I read today was about their art and culture in Heian. What i liked about this was that they told you what the buildings were made out of, they were made out of wood with tiles on the roof and a lot of room inside. What I didn't understand was the qoute on page 448 2nd paragraph.

- Abbi Rudisill :)

mrs. dubnik,
i have been reading the book called How I Became A Writer and it has multiple stories that she has written and so far it kind of relates to me.

i have been reading the book called How I Became A Writer and it is about a girl who lived in the great depression and it tells how she became a writer

Savvy

February 6th, 2011
Dear Mrs.Dubnik,
I have been reading Savvy by Ingrid Law. I was about a girl named Mississippi Beaumont and her family who had a little something special about themselves. Everyone in their family except their Poppa had a savvy. Everyone in the world had a savvy it was just that the Beaumonts knew they had one, unlike everybody else. There were 5 kids , their names were Gypsy, Samson, Mississippi, Fish, and Rocket. Each one of them either have their savvy or will get theirs on their 13th birthday. The 2 oldest sons had their savvies already. Rocket could generate sparks off his fingers. Without him the Beaumont family would be living in the dark and able to go nowhere. You see Rocket had to power the house and run the car with his electricity. Now, Fish on the other hand could rise storms and make wind, or for short he made weather. Fish had to be careful where he went or trouble would happen because not many people can control their savvies just like Fish. He had trouble around water. On his 13th birthday they had to move because he had created a hurricane in his oceany home. Now Mississippi , or as she liked to be called Mibs, hadn't gotten her savvy yet. It was the same with Samson and Gypsy. All 3 of them had to wait till they turned 13 to get their savvy. So later on in the book Poppa gets in an accident. He has to go to the hospital in Salina, Kansas. SO the next day Momma and Rocket go down to the hospital to see Poppa. Meanwhile, Mibs's 13 birthday is around the corner and so far she doesn't want her savvy to come! All she wants now is for her Poppa to be alright. Soon Miss Rosemary, the Priest's wife from church, comes over and feeds the family dinner including Grandpa Bomba. At dinner Miss Rosemary says she is going to throw a birthday party for Mibs and Mibs isn't to excited. Later on at the birthday party, Mibs in her special occasion dress from Poppa, Mibs just gets this sudden idea to hide on the big pink Bible bus in the parking lot while the priest and the delivery man from the bus are arguing. WHen she goes outside she is followed by Will, Miss Rosemary's Grandson, and they head toward the bus even though will's sister Bobbi is standing roght there. Even though Will doesn't know what Mibs has in mind he follows her onto the bus, and so does Bobbi. They soon see fish coming and he gets on the bus too. After they deliveryman leaves everyone starts to get oanicky and Bobbi finds Samson underneath the cot in the back. FInally, the bus stops and everyone turns around and the delivery man is staring straight at them with a stern look. They all know that they didn't head north toward Salina like they were supposed to, and know exactly what Lester, the delivery man, is thinking. Eventually Lester gives in to giving them a ride to Salina. Soon they meet a woman named Lill whose car is broken down and is late for work at a restaurant.She agree's to give them free dinner as long as she still has her job when she gets there. She does have her job but in the end she gets fired and still receives her last pay check from the manager. With everyone on the bus they head to a motel. Lill uses her pay check to pay for 2 rooms and Lester sleeps on the bus. After they get settled they trick Lill into thinking they called their parents and she falls for it. Then while everyone kicks back and relaxes Lill goes to the Mega Mega Mart across the street and buys a bunch of food, t-shirts for pajamas,a new tie for Letster, and swimwear for everyone. So everyone goes to the pool while she gives Lester his new tie. In the morning everyone hops back on the bus and they head for one detour then to Salina. The detour is to a woman named Carlene's trailer who got Lester his job he trys to pay her but she refuses to take it because she wants twice what he has.But lester says he isn't coming back, so then she starts throwing things and realizes that the kids standing in her trailer are the ones on the news. She tries to call the police but everyone gets on the bus and races for Salina.about a mile down the road they realize they left Samson.SO they race back and try to get in and out quickly but she is blocking the door. Soon Fish gets mad and sends a gust of wind her way and they get in and find him nowhere. But this is where Mibs's savvy comes in handy. Once they wrestle Carlene down Mibs draws a face on her arm and listens to her thoughts to where Samson is. Eventually she starts hearing Samson's voice and finds him in a hidden storage space covered in pen marks from trying to get Mibs attention,and it worked. They try to leave but then the police arrive and thankfully Fish isn't mad any more. A child care person steps in front of the kids while the adults are removed. Once evrything is settled all the kids hop back on the bus with Lester and Lill and head to Salina. WHen they get there their parents are waiting and so happy but once they go up the elevator to Poppa's room everything goes silent. They go in and see that Poppa hasn't woken from unconsciousness yet and be very still and quiet. Then Mibs uses her savvy and tries to listen to Poppa through Miss Mermaid, Poppa's tatoo. She eventually hears her but then the nurses rush them out. But Mibs won't leave her Poppa. She hangs onto that bed frame and keeps talkin to Poppa. Then when she is about to be out of the room Poppa wakes up. After a while in the hospital they take Poppa home. They live a happy life from then on out!
There is imagery in this book. When I say imagery I mean a lot of it! In this book ther were places where I could see it, hear it, and feel it. I could see from where Mibs didn't want a savvy up to when she wanted it more than anything so she could hear her Poppa's thoughts. I could hear it when her Poppa came back into consciousness and said her name. Finally, I could feel it when everybody just was lifted of their feet because they were so happy that their Poppa had lived.
There was a whole bunch of feelings in this book. This author uses a lot of description when it comes to feelings. I think the author is trying to tell a story where in the end almost all hope is given up except for one person,which was Mibs, and then everything turns out perfectly fine. In the text the way the author describes the feelings helps me conclude this. I feel that this author can accomplisha nything because she puts so much description in her book. As I finished this book I was left with nothing but pure happiness for the Beaumonts. They had almost given up on their Poppa until everything was saved by Mibs not giving up on her Poppa.
This story was amazing, and I know that it's non-fiction so I don't have to worry about their Poppa and his full recovery. But I definetly think this author is very good at her/his job. I recommend this book to everyone out there who can read. Like I said, I read Savvy by Ingrid Law. I hope you enjoy this book just as much as I did!

Twilight

Dear Mrs.Dubnik,
I am almost done with Twilight. I love the way Stephine Meyer describes the emotions in her book. It is so good I picture every singal detail.