Summer+Reading+Fun

=**Reading Takes You Places!**= ===Welcome to Room 17's Summer Book Club. The books you read with me count on your Summer Reading Log! ===

**Rules:**
====**1**. When you participate, think about what you brought to your Literature Circles this year in class. Was something interesting? Were you confused about a part? Are you wondering something? Was a certain part funny or important to the plot? Do you have certain feelings about the book we're sharing? **THAT** is what I'd love to hear about on this page!==== ====**3.** Before you answer someone's question or comment, stop and think: Is there a way I can lead the reader to the right answer without just telling them outright? For example: "I think the part you're wondering about is described in the part where Franny watched her classmates." When you respond like this, it gives the reader a chance to discover the answer for him/herself.====
 * 2.** Be kind when you respond to someone's comment or question. I will know who wrote the comment...even if you don't put your name down.

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**4.** Check out the Library (it's your friend!) before running out to buy or download a book!=====

===First book : Pictures of Hollis Woods, by Patricia Reilly Giff === Read to (stop at) chapter 5. Log in your comments on or before June 29th. Check back often to see what your friends have written, and respond to anything you'd like to.

This is Sam Kahn. I thought that Pictures of Hollis Woods was kind of boring. It's just a girl from an orphanage, there is nothing very special about that. It does have a pretty decent way of arranging the chapters like it goes from the real story, and then this dream type part.

This is Mo, Sam's mom. The dream type part is called a flashback, where you get information about what has happened in the past to the characters. I like that we are slowly learning about Hollis, and what has happened to her in other houses, and how this affect how she acts now. I agree with Sam that it is interesting the way the story switches between the past and the present, and I also like how each of the flashbacks is centered on one of Hollis' drawings. Her drawings are really the only constant in her life, she does that wherever she goes. Maybe because she has so little permanence and stability in her life it gives her something to hold on to, or a way to control the world around her.

Mrs. B.: I was thinking about the "pictures," andwhat that means. Pictures are our way of preserving events so that we can remember the past. When the author switches to a "picture," Hollis is thinking about her past- like Mo said, a flashback. Very clever. I was wondering though, why is it that Hollis has a nick name for almost every character so far? Lemon Lady, The Old Man, The Stucco Woman, The Mustard Woman, etc. she only calls a few people by their real names. Hmmm...

I'm also wondering about all the reference to types of water. What do you suppose that's all about?

I LOVED when Josie said, "There are saltwater people, and there are fresh water people." Which one is Hollis? Why do you think that? What type of water would YOU be?

This is Samantha. I disagree with Sam. I think Hollis Woods is a foster child that keeps moving from different homes, not from an orphanage. I like how she describes and keeps her memories in drawings. I think she only calls the people she really cares about by their real names, except for Old Man. I can tell she really loved him. I love how she likes to draw because I like to draw too. I'm not sure yet why the story talks about water so much.

Mrs. B.: Hi Samantha! Yes, I think Hollis is a foster child. It seems Hollis isn't very comfortable with the people she has been placed with. I wonder why. I think you're on to something with your thoughts on why she only calls the people she cares about by their real names. I think if you don't care about someone, a person might not care about what he or she calls people who don't matter. I think "Old Man," is an affectionate term for the father. I think that because she was teasing him at the diner when she called him that for the first time.

Hollis' flashbacks give us information on what happened previously. I like how the author doesn't give us the whole back-story all at once, but lets us see a little bit each time. For me, it build up the anticipation. As for the water, Google "symbolism of water in a story," and see what you find, then see if you can figure out a reason for the different bodies of water Hollis encounters in the story. It's interesting. I'd love to say I'm a fresh water person, but I think my family would laugh at that. I guess I'm more of a salt water person...

7/3/12 Mrs. B.: Oh dear! I'm thinking Hollis' choice of taking Josie to the summer house might not work out well. I'm a bit uneasy that she broke into the house. At first I was thinking that they'd freeze. I was glad the electricity was on so Hollis could get Josie warm. Hollis is pretty clever for such a young person. I wonder if that's because she's not had anyone to depend on in her life-at least not for very long. She thought of the house, the need for money and gas, she put the car in the garage, and planned for Henry to come along on the journey. I get the sense that something "big" is going to happen soon. It seems like things are going //**way**// too easily right now. I also think we'll find out why she left Izzy, Old Man, and Steven soon. The last picture, plus chapter 10, gave a hint that the truck was involved in her running away.

It drove me nuts that there wasn't a picture after Chapter 9!! I was used to getting some more information about her past, and I was tempted to read Picture 9 after I read Chapter 10...but I'm waiting!

This is Sam and I still don't get this book even though I am at chapter 10. I don't get the book because it mixes in between stuff that happened in the past and what is happening right then.

Mrs.B.: Hi Sam! Hmmm...I think we are living Hollis' present life with her, but we are learning about things that happened in her past in the "pictures." I don't know about you, but the pictures answer a lot of the questions I'd be asking if I didn't know about her past. I feel like we are getting close to a turning point/climax soon. She's back in the house that she loved, and we know she has fond memories of that family. Can you tell me what you think might happen next, and why? If she loved that family do much, why the heck did she leave?

Maybe Samantha has some good thoughts to share.

Let's read until chapter 15, stop at 16, before next Wednesday. Do you have a thought for another book? Have you read A Wrinkle in Time? I am having trouble because it's a book I don't really want to read. I prefer books that have fantasy in them like wizards and magicians, medieval type stuff. Although it is a good book because it has a lot of adventure. I like Hollis because she is brave and a good person.

My mom and I Googled water and we decided that my sister is an ocean person and I am a river person. An Ocean person is a person that is unpredictable and uncontrollable and a river person is a sign of grace and the calm beauty of nature.

This is Sammy. We are at my Grandma and Grandpa's house and I am using my mom's phone, so I hope it works. I feel sad for Hollis because now that she has a place she likes, the lady is trying to move her somewhere else. see seems like the same thing happened with the other family too. If she would have gone to school she would be able to stay. I don't think I would have been brave enough to go in the dark to the cabin and run away from the lady. I'm glad she found her art box because she loves it. I think I am a river person too. My mom has been reading the book too and really likes it.

Mrs. B. here: Writing from a phone can be tricky. I've done it twice, and I've had to go back and correct errors I've found afterward. I'm glad you checked in, though! I'm not sure if I feel sad for Hollis or if I'm just frustrated that she keeps giving up. I think in her own mind she's doing what she can to keep the positive people in her life now. I know she still misses Old Man and Izzy's house, because her flashbacks tell us that, but running away still seems to be her answer. I wonder how she can get out of that pattern and still be happy. I'm very worried about Hollis and Josie now. Hollis is too young to be making decisions, and Josie's mental state isn't strong enough to be the adult Hollis needs right now. I like that Hollis is protecting her, though. She's starting to hold on to things that matter to her. I don't think she'll leave the art box behind now that she's found it again. She'll hold on to that, too.

I like that both you and Sam thought about the "water" point of view. I'd still love to say I'm clear water, and maybe parts of me are, but still...when you mix the clear water with the salt water, you still have salty water! The "calm" part of the clear water pulls me down every time. I guess I just like to stir things up by being unpredictable!

Mrs. B.-We're getting close to the end, and I'm figuring out some things about Hollis. Her tough act was just that, an act. I think she's really just a young girl who has been hurt so often that she acts tough so that people don't know what she's feeling. It's a defense mechanism.

I was glad to find out what happened that made Hollis run away from Izzy and Old Man's house. I don't think she was right to run, but I think she ran because she was afraid they'd say she was too much trouble to keep. What do you think? Was the accident her fault? It made me feel sad for Old Man to hear that he went looking for her to try and talk her into coming back, and she turned him away. I think it was telling that she wouldn't look him in the eye.

Another thing I noticed that was interesting was Hollis' sighting of the fox in the woods. The way it was written, and Hollis' reaction to it, made me wonder if the fox had another meaning, so...I looked it up. There are some great symbolic meanings for a fox. Look them up and see if you can find one or more meanings that would fit perfectly in the story!

Let's finish the book before next Wednesday so we can start the new fantasy book. I'm excited to read it!
Hi Mrs. B.

Sam and I both read the book (Spellbinder) and really liked it. Have we moved on to talking about it? I can't get him to say anything else about the other book. Let us know... -Mo