Language+Arts

 **__January and February Literature Circles! __**

Cut: 1-30-09 In this book there is a girl named Callie and she is in a program call Sea Pines and all of te girls call the program "Sick Minds." Callie's life was not always the best and thats why she devloped a problem. She cuts herself becuase she dosn't know how to express her emotions. With the help of her friends at "Sick Minds" Callie will learn how to express herself and get better. (:

Speak: 1-30-09 In this book there is a girl named Melinda who doesn't have any friends because she called the cops at a summer party. She won't tell anyone and no one will be her friends. Her favorite subject and the only subject she does good in is art. Melinda has been skipping school and has been hiding out in the janitors closet most of the time. The school noticed that she has been skipping school and called for a meeting with her parents. After the meeting, Melinda starts going to her classes and gets rewarded with clothes. Melinda was sleeping in the closet and woke up to a basketball game going on. The Hornets won and Melinda was invited to a party at David's house and she said no. Then she walked home arguing with herself.

Monster: 1-30-09 In this book there is a boy named Steve was acussed of murdering Mr. Nesbitt. He knows he is innocent but even his prosecuter called him a Monster. Now the trial is if he was even involved in the murder or not. Steve is more worried about how society sees him. They see him as a hoodlem wrapped up in the wrong thing.

Rag and the Bone Shop 1-30-09 In this book, a interogator named Trent is called to interogate a boy named Jason, the last person to see the victim of a mysterious murder. He interogates Jason and tries to find out who is responsible for the murder of the young Alicia.


 * __September and October Literature Circles! __**

Drums, Girls and Dangerous Pie 9/26/08 This book is about a boy named Steven.Steven has a brother named Jeffery who ends up having leukimia. Steven has to then learn how to survive his new life with is brothers deathly sickness. The more into the sickness Jeffery got the more Steven had to adjust to his new life. Steven will just have to get used to all the attention that goes to Jeffery. Love, Brittny, Hannah, Onyx, and Wyatt.

10/6/08 In the current part of the book Jeffery's illness has gotten much worse. They have to take him to the hospital every weekend. Seven's social life isn't that bad at all, although his home life is rather stressful. Everyone knows who Steven is now, and Steven is still hating the attention.

You Don't Know Me 2 9/26/08 I like how in the book, John has an active imagination. He always exaggerates and changes the meaning of things, always thinking the opposite. In our latest reading John got stuck in Gloria's basement after a fight at the basketball game and had to crawl out a small cat door. Our group didnt like how in the story how John's stepfather beats him, and we also dont like how John looks at things so differently and renames them.

10/10/08 In our last night reading, John was suspended from school. When his dad wasn't home one day, Violent hayes knocks at his door and asks him to the holiday dance. John did not want to go but violent changed his mind. At the Holiday dance, John drinks a lot of punch which ends up being tainted. Dr. Whitefeild told Violent and John that they should go home after she kicked Glorias date at the dance. When they got to Violent's house she kissed him and he actually liked it. When he got home John's dad was incrediblly drunk and grabbed John.

Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants 9/29/08 There is a group of friends who are following the footsteps of their mothers. There is a pair of "magical" pants that fits Tibby, Bridget, Lena, and Carmen. They all went to different places for the summer like soccer camp and Greece and they have to mail the pair of pants a certain way. The only setback is there are rules to using the pants. The main rule is that you can not wash the pants no matter how dirty they get. Also they can only wear the pants when needed.

You Don't Know Me 10/3/08 This book is a different kind of book. It is good but it can get confusing. John lives in his mind and that can sometimes be confusing. However the book is filled with action and keeps you asking questions. I think it is weird how John says he is doing one thing and then another thing about a minute later. John is a good character and a hard character to explain. Tyler B. Mike E. Jeremy M.

Trouble With Lemons 10/3/08 This book is cool because Tyler is 13 years old and he goes through the same things as us. Some things we talked about in the book are about mary grace and him talking alot. We think she likes him. We also discuss how Tyler got beat up by mark. So far, this book is pretty exciting and interesting. Tyler and Lymie's relationship is very confusing. They fight, ignore eachother but hang out all the time.