Independent Reading Book Post #1

Title: The Skin I'm In by Sharon Flake
pgs 1-43

Summary: This is my first post for my independent reading book. We are finished with book clubs right now but we are not finished with reading. In my class we all had a goal to try and read 25 books this year. So far no one has reached that goal but the more books we finish the closer we get to meeting the goal. So, so far my book is really good. The main character of my book is Maleeka Madison. She is a dark skinned girl that is not wealthy and almost the whole school makes fun of her for one reason or another. If it is not about her clothes, then it is about her skin. Maleeka is in Middle school and she can't stand her teacher Ms. Saunders!(pg5) Maleeka doesn't have many friends, but she is friends with this girl named Char that treats her like dirt! (pg15) I really don't like the way that Char treats Maleeka, she is always putting her down.(pg 17) Maleeka and Char are only friends because Maleeka kind of begged Char to be her friend so that the people in school would stop picking on her.(pg 23) I also met a character named Caleb. He is the boy that Maleeka thinks is really cute! The Skin I'm in is very entertaining! (Historian) This week many events happened in my book but the one that I want to discuss is Maleeka's fight.(pg 30) Maleeka had a fight with another girl because Char was kissing her Boyfriend. Char stood right there and watched the fight she didn't get Maleeka out of the fight and Maleeka didn't tell on Char. That led me to think about(Deep Thinker) this new word that everyone talks about in my school...SNITCHING. Maleeka didn't Snitch on Char and she got her but whipped. What do people really gain by not snitching on someone else? The kids in my school think that it is bad to be a snitch. As I was the Word Smith this week I found the word chronicling on page 24. This word means.....Making an account of events in the order of their happening.

Prompt: When I compare Pictures of Hollis Woods to the Skin I am in I see some similarities. The one thing that I would like to talk about on today deals with how both of the main characters think of themselves. The main character Hollis Woods didn't think that she was pretty at all. She hated that her hair was bushy, she had freckles and she had a big scar on her face from an accident that she had. Maleeka in the Skin I'm In doesn't think that she is pretty either. She hates the fact that she has really dark skin, and the kids in school tease her about her skin color and the clothes that she wears.

Blog Post #4

Title: Pictures of Hollis Woods by Patricia Reilly
Pgs. 109-166
Summary: Josie liked the new house that she and Hollis were staying at, but she sometimes expressed that she was homesick. Hollis didn't want to go back to Josie's house because she knew that if they went back, the agency lady would be coming to take her away from Josie. Hollis finally flashed back to explain why she left the Regans! There was a mountain at the summer house that Hollis really wanted to climb. Steven asked Hollis to go to the river with him one day when the Regans had been out for the day. Hollis decided that she didn't want to go with Steven. She said that she would rather do art work for the day. When Steven left, Hollis decided that she would finally attempt to climb the mountain. She climbed the mountain successfully. However, she fell down the mountain when she was celebrating that she had finally made it to the top. When she fell that is how she got the gash in her head(it took 5 stitches to close it) and she hurt her ankle so bad that she couldn't walk. She was just laying on the side of the mountain bleeding and crying out for help. Some how Steven knew that she had climbed the mountain and he took the Regan's truck up the mountain to get Hollis. On the way down the mountain Steven lost control of the car because no matter how hard he pressed the brakes it would not stop. The truck flipped down the mountain and left Steven unconscious. (pg.125)
When the Regans pulled up Hollis limped to them trying to tell them what had happened. She wanted them to know that it wasn't Steven's fault but they wouldn't listen to her. Mr. Regan was blaming Steven even though he was hurt very badly and they were not sure if he was going to make it. At that point Hollis blamed her self for everything and decided that when they got back from the hospital that she would be running away. She felt like she was the reason that Steven always got in trouble with Mr. Regan even though it had nothing to do with her. Steven pulled through even though he had a few broken ribs and fractured bones in his arms.(pg137) As soon as Mrs. Regan dropped Hollis off at the house she packed her things and ran back to the agency. Mr. Regan came and tried to get Hollis to come back home, but she refused thinking that she was the reason that the Regans almost lost their only son.
So the book ends with Hollis learning that Steven knew that she had run away with Josie back to the summer home. Hollis and Josie were in the newspaper as missing people and as soon as Steven heard that he knew that she would run back to the summer home because she loved that house. Steven had stacked the house with food and everything for Hollis. As Hollis was flashing back she realized that Mr. Regan really loved Steven even though they fought a lot. She came to realize that Mr. Regan and Steven's relationship had nothing to do with her. As soon as she realized this she told Josie that she was going to walk to the phone booth. On her way to the phone booth she saw Steven. She was so happy to see him! They talked and he confirmed that she had not ruined the Regan's lives. Steven went with her to the phone booth. They called Beatrice(Josie's cousin) to make sure that she would come and take care of Josie. Then they called Mrs. Regan so Hollis could ask her if she could come home! The Regans took Hollis back with open arms!

Opinion: I loved this book! At one point in the book it got a little boring, but I am so glad that I kept reading to find out what the final outcome of the book would be! When Hollis asked Mrs. Regan if she could come home I almost cried! I almost cried because the author did a really good job writing about Hollis and making her seem so real to me. I couldn't imagine what it would feel like being a foster child and never feeling loved by your real parents. So I was so happy that Hollis Woods finally was able to become Hollis Regan and get the love that she wanted so badly! When you first start reading this book you don't know what happened to Steven because Hollis just keeps talking to him in her head. I thought that the book was going to reveal to me that the truck accident had killed Steven and that is why Hollis left the Regans. I was relieved to find out how the truck accident really happened and that Steven was still alive!

Prompt:What was the best thing about this week's reading? What surprised you about this week's reading What Big Idea did your group make based on this week's reading? The Big Idea that What kind of ending does your story have? Did the ending surprise you? Would you recommend this book to anyone?

Post #3

Title: Pictures of Hollis Woods by Patricia Reilly
pgs.63-108
Summary: This week in my reading the book really got interesting! My main character Hollis Woods really changes during this weeks reading. The lady that dropped Hollis off with Josie realizes that Josie is not capable of taking care of Hollis because she is so forgetful. The lady shows up to the house unannounced and finds Hollis home from school. She then takes Hollis to school to find out that Hollis has not been to school in a month of Sundays. The lady goes back to her office and finds another foster family for Hollis to go and live with. She calls Hollis the next day to let her know that she will be coming to get her to take her to meet her new foster family. Hollis doesn't like this new plan at all. At this point in the book Hollis feels like Josie needs her more than she really needs Josie. Hollis expresses that she is afraid that if she leaves Josie that Josie will burn the house down, or forget to put gas in the car, or forget where she lives. She refuses to leave Josie. She then sits and comes up with this elaborate plan to save herself and Josie. She decides that they will run away together! When she lived with the Regans they had a summer home in the mountains. She decided that is where she and Josie would go live happily ever after! She took all of her savings and filled up the car, packed her clothes and Josie's clothes. She also made sure that she packed food for her, Josie and Henry (Josie's cat to live off of. They traveled at night to make sure that they were long gone, by the time that the lady would have arrived at Josie's house to get Hollis. The trip was a success and my reading ends with Hollis doing all that she possible could to make sure that she does not get taken away from Josie!

Opinion: I enjoyed reading my book this week. I thought that it was great that Hollis has finally allowed her self to love Josie enough that she feels the need to take care of her. In the beginning of the book I felt like Hollis kept running away from her families because she never wanted to give anyone the opportunity to ever leave her again as her real mother did. In the beginning of my book I didn't really care for Hollis because of the way that she would act towards the other people in the book, but now I like her because she is no longer acting out. she seems to have turned over a new leaf!


Prompt: What is one question that the deep thinker discussed with the group in this weeks meeting?

What kind of connections did the question allow you to make? Explain your answer

Who is your favorite character in the book? Why is that character your favorite? Explain your answer.

What was the best thing that happened in your book this week? Or what surprised you the most about your book on this week?

What Role did you play this week? What was one thing that you did this week to help your group be successful? Explain your answer.