Book Report = The Ancient Mesopotamians

The Mesopotamian were the first civilization that we know of. How was it possible? The cradle of civilization, two convenient rivers, like the Nile, that would flood and let the make the crops grow, which would otherwise be a bleak desert.. The names of the rivers were Tigris and Euphrates. The Mesopotamian culture depended on these two water sources to make the beautiful farming land that was needed. With the water, they were able to begin storing up food and water until there wasn't any worry of having to move. Building solid houses and capturing and penning animals made them the first civilization.

The Mesoptamians had a large culture, and had lots of stories. The most well known is the Epic of Gilgamesh, and plenty of other stories. They would carve down on stones stories that would otherwise be still carried on words or, worse, gone! Fortunately, with them having enough time to settle down and carve stuff, they 'wrote' it down for fun, giving us the story of The Epic of Gilgamesh. They also wrote down other stories, such as When On High, The Rebellion of the Gods, and the Great Flood.

(From 4/28/15)

The Dog Master: Book Report.

Hey guys, it's Adventure Van here with a blog about The Dog Master, a book based on the author's perceptions of how we tamed the first dog. Being a Prehistorical Fiction, it's a fun read, and for all we know it could have nuggets of truth in it. It follows separate story lines at separate times to tie up everything neatly, and uses the modern day setting to explain otherwise confusing things. It follows a archeologist who's discovered the remains of a wolf that had a red pigment stained onto the fossil, which gives evidence that it had large interactions with humans. As the stories progress both in prehistoric and modern day times, we see the paleontologists and cave-people's seprate struggles with separate consequences.

One of the story lines we find is the tale of the Kindred, a hunter/gather setup that travels in a large hoard to follow supplies. In it, we follow the story of one female as she has to deal with arranged marriages, the evilness of the council mother, and having a dis-formed child in a time where such things were classified as curses. We then begin to follow the child's storyline, from having to deal with a deformity in a time with no medicine, having to deal with the social stigma of it, and eventually having to deal with being banished from the tribe.

Another one is following the story of the Wolfen, a group who have made their entire social circle around being like the wolfs. After having his father die, we follow the tale of a heir to the group's problems as other's disagree with his right to power, him having affections for those his father's dying wishes said he couldn't marry, and the fact that a group of wolves continuously are coming to him for food and this is taken as a sign that he is the true Wolfen leader.

And finaly we have the story of a wolf and a man who work together to survive, with the man being forced out of honor and sympathy to not kill the wolf and her pups even though he doesn't know if the pups will kill him once they grow up, as well as having to find enough food to keep both him and them alive, while the wolf and cubs have to learn to deal with this strange creature who's intruded into their life but yet brings them food. At the end, it's relieved that the man was the Kindred's son and the wolf mother was the wolf that kept coming to the Wolfen. It ends after the mother cub dies and the only surviving cub stays with the man, the Wolfen let the man join them without caring about his malformation, and the Kindred get rid of the evil stigma that was protruding from the council and put in those who are for the well being of the entire group.

That's Adventure Van, reading into the past.

Anne of Green Gables: Book Report

Hey guys, it's Adventure Van here with a blog post about Anne of Green Gables, written by L.M. Montgomery, which is a book that's become a large part of American culture. Following the story of a young child named Anne, who slowly gets used to living in the house owned by her foster parents, Marilla and Matthew Cuthbert, in Canada. Anne starts the book of as a 11 year old girl who's been adopted by mistake, and slowly 'grows up' during the course of the book, both mentally and psychically. The book itself is set up in a short story like style, with each chapter (excluding the ending ones) being able to be told separately, each one expanding Anne's personality and those around her. She deals with separate occasions, from being first brought to the Gables to lessons in lying and liars to separate friends, all the way to the heart wrenching end. It's a nice book, and it's definitely re-readable.

This is Adventure Van, signing out.

Teenie Book Report

Teenie is a book written by Christopher Grant. It's about a girl named Teenie who has to deal with not getting a scholarship, have her best friend turning her back on her, have a abusive relationship with a boy AND having his self-proclaimed girlfriend attack her. It's a ok book, but I just don't like it. I can't get much out of it. It has a good story, but my brain doesn't see any of the points. I think that if it was a little less cryptic, it be much better.

 **/***** Rating. :(.

The Rise of Nine: Book Report

The Rise of Nine is part of the Lorien Legacies Series. It's written by Pittacus Lore, and it's about  the combat in-between two different species of aliens, and the involvement of humans. This one is about 4,6,7,8,9, and 10. 4 loses Sam in a attempt to kill the boss of the aliens but gains 9. 9 immediately deletes any chance of going back, saying if he was suppose to come back, he would. They go to 9's base in NY and fight over which guardian is better. A dream comes, saying they need to get to the desert. As they run there, 6,7, and 10 go and find 8, who is impersonating a god. They have to pass his trials, a waste of time (they think) but do anyway. 8 then goes and shows them a chamber which allows them to teleport.

They find a cryptic message on the wall, which shows that 8's going to die. However, it also shows 1,2, and 3 dead, 4 running from the school with 6 causing a storm, 7 drugging her guardian, and how 10 arrived. It shows them defeating the main alien as well. However, it gets shot at by a cannon and destroyed. The aliens shoot away, and 10's guardian gets killed. They teleport, but 6 gets sent to the desert. The government captures her, and there working with the aliens to capture them. However, 8 teleports again, and they meet up with 6 and 9. They charge and save a fake 7, who then attacks them. The real 7 escapes the trap she was in and saves them. However, 8 almost dies, and the alien escapes.

3/4. Whoot WHoot! More on it's way.
*****/*****

The Power of Six: Book Report

 The Power Of Six is part of the Lorien Legacies Series. It's written by Pittacus Lore, and it's about  the combat in-between two different species of aliens, and the involvement of humans. This one is about both 4,6, and 7. 7 is on a different continent (The numbers are spread over the world) and has a guardian who has turned her back to the cause of them being there. She has to attempt to convince her to leave the place their staying place. However, 4,6, and Sam are now terrorists who are wanted by the government as they attempt to escape. They get into and out of a standoff quickly, and continue on their quest to go and get a group of artifacts in a chest that could help them find the others.

7 meets a new friend named Ella, and they go and find their chest. 7 then drugs her guardian in order to activate the chest so she can open it. However, she activates some type of tracking device and the aliens attempt to kill her and her guardian. At the same time, 4 and 6 have the other side of the tracker and 6 flys out there to help.  She barely manages to escape, and then meets up with Ella, who reveals that she is actually number 10. She and her guardian go and run to a private plane that will help them, but 7's guardian gets killed defending the hallway from a army and they get surrounded. 6 comes out of nowhere with a giant lighting storm and they get onto the plane.

2/4, more coming!
*****/*****

I am Number Four: Book Report.

I am Number Four is part of the Lorien Legacies Series. It's written by Pittacus Lore, and it's about  the combat in-between two different species of aliens, and the involvement of humans. This one is about John Smith, formerly Daniel Jones, and is also number 4 out of 9 in a alien race that is fighting for it's life. Number 1, 2, and 3 or all dead, so it's time for John to get ready for the fight of his life, in which a lot of things will happen. John will develop powers that will help him save his friends in a soon to become epic battle.

John moves too Paradise, Ohio to escape the notice of a evil group of aliens who have just succeeded in killing 3. There he meets a cute girl named Sarah, and gets the bad sight of her ex-boyfriend who also happens to be the schools major bully. He also meets Sam, who is paranoid of aliens and things they abducted his father. He gets in fights, and always wins. However, his guardian alien, Henri, is kidnapped by a group of alien conspirators, so he and Sam go and save him. Sam realizes he is a alien and then has to be convinced that he will not be kidnapped like his father. Time passes, then he someone sets fire to the house that there's a party in, so he saves Sarah, but gets on footage and has to leave when the aliens attempt to kill him, 6 and Henri saves him. Henri sacrifices himself so they can escape,and so he, Sam, and 6 and a pet shapechanger go on a trip to find the others.

This is the first part of a 4 book series. So more incoming!
*****/*****

Ender's Game: Book Report.

Ender's Game is a book about a war between humans and aliens, life and death, love and hate, childhood and adulthood, and Ender Wiggin against everyone else. It was written by Orson Scott Card and was the winner of the Hugo and Nebula awards. It's about a boy named Andrew, who is better known as Ender, who is suddenly put into a new place, Battle School. However, instead of what he is expecting, becoming part of the group, he is singled out and shoved away from the rest of the group. He is bullied, and the second he finally gets into a good position on the social ladder, he is sent to the bottom of a different one.

In the new team, he makes exactly the wrong friend at the wrong moment, gets shoved to the back of the group, and doesn't do anything in the battles. However, he gets mad, and he doesn't follow the leaders orders and wins a battle for the group. The leader and he get into a fight, and he is traded into a new group. He actually is part of the battles, and changes the game entirely by charging out. He questions authority, and works stuff things that are against him out, but the when he gets comfortable, he gets sent to a new team. His team. He makes a group, he shows he's a commander, and he wins his first game. However, the game seems to change against him, the odds being too small, yet he still wins. Right before he cracks, he is sent away.

Command School is very different then Battle School. Instead of being part of the battle, he commands it, and instead of living it, he sees it from the side lines. He is weirded out by it, but goes along with it. He gets a new enemy, he fights and wins, and then he gets to the biggest challenge. The simulation chamber basically shows the battle, and Ender is given his friends and commanders to help him win every battle on it. However, he finds out, after defeating the last simulation he'd ever play, that it wasn't a simulation. He had been tricked into destroying a entire species on accident. He had a breakdown so bad that he spent a whole week in his chamber. However, he can't go back to his planet, so he leaves for a new one. He and a colonization group go and claim a planet that he had cleared the alien life out of. Since I haven't read the sequel, I can't tell you what happens next. :P

The Judging:
AWESOME BOOK!
6/5
******

The Diary of Anne Frank Book Report

The Diary of Anne Frank was a moving story about a young girl and her family and friends who were Jewish during WWII, and her life in the Secret Annexe. It was written by Anne Frank (duh), had 283  pages, and was printed in 1963. It was a non-fiction book and was published by Bantam Books, and had the copyright of 1952 by her father, Otto Frank.

Anne was a ordinary girl who was ten when the Nazi group was formed, and she had gotten a diary on her tenth birthday, during which she began recording the items that were being taken away from the Jews. After  a while she was annoyed and surprised to find out that they were moving to the Secret Annexe. As she was going to be living there for a while, she got used to it. She was in there with her sister, parents, parent's friends, their child, and the dentist. It was a tad crowded, as Anne usually noted.

She usually got into arguments with her mother, and almost every one who was an adult, not including daddy. She also got into fights with her sister once in a while, but it was very short and almost immediately apologized. She never got into fights with Peter, who she got along fine with, as 'he was like me in almost every way'.

The diary of Anne Frank  was a good book, and should be read by most everyone. It does prove of some of the horrors of living cramped with a group of people, as well as the concentration camps. You should read it if you like WWII stuff.

Book Report, Tatterung

Another redwall book, A otter named Dayne's father gets murdered by a group of vermin, and the vermin seer say's that the babe is the Tatterung, a beast with supreme power. The babe grows up to be a fine young otter, while his enemy named Gruel, after a unfortunate incidence, who wants to kill him, for because since Tatt, as the vermin called him, who ever killed him would become the Tatterung. After several attempts to kill him, he finally challenges him. He was smacked flat in no time at all, but after hearing all the shouts of 'finish him off!' he leaves.

Gruel, automatically springs into leadership and takes the entire group of vermin, all 3 score and a half of them on a trip to capture Tatt and slay him. On Tatt's adventures, he meets a young field mouse named Nicome. They travel together, thru snakes and mountains, vermin and friends, to the redwall abbey of his dreams. For the vermin, mutiny and starvation hits them, and only 5 out of 70 make it to redwall, where they  suceed in failing in every single way, while the last two run off with a deadly Tatt following them, and finally succeeds of the destruction of the one who ordered his father to die, and the one who killed him.

Good book! Tears in my eye.

Book Report: The Underground Railroad

A bunch of books have been  wrote about it, so i cant post a exact link, but its in here somewhere!:http://www.goodreads.com/shelf/show/underground-railroad.

So this is about black people escaping escaping their owner. And in order to do that,  they needed to get help, so this is when the Underground Railroad came in. BUT IT WASN'T UNDERGROUND OR A RAILROAD! So don't ask me why they called it that.Or better yet, DO! It was called Underground because the slave catchers couldn't catch the ones on the Underground Railroad. And it was called a railroad because it had 'passengers','cargo','conductors','tracks',''stations', and 'coal'. 'Passenger' and 'cargo' meant the Negroes. 'Conductors' were people who guided the 'cargo'. 'Tracks' were where they had to follow.'Stations' were people who sheltered the 'cargo'.

Many great people were involved in the Underground Railroad and some like Harriet Tubman were conductors themselves! The people were willing to risk there life for anti slavery, and some even were slaves themselves! A lot of them lived in Canada, but some risked living in the north side of the SA. (Not United Yet!)The slave population was slowly leaving, so the south, angry at the north said that if it didn't get it's slaves back, it was going to cause a war. SO IT DID, the Civil War started! The north won, and the USA was now a slave free country.

Book Report: Infinty ring

I have read three books called Infinity ring.
It is about three kids named Dak,Sera, and Riq who time travel thru out the world to stop the SQ.
The  first  book is about Christopher Columbus,the second is about Vikings, and the Third is about the Underground railroad.

The first book, is about the kids finding the secret to time travel. Daks parents are accidentally left in the time stream, so Dak automatically wants to save them.But, the Historians, Need the Infinity ring, and they decide to team up with Dak and Sera. Riq joins them, and they begin to time travel just before the SQ can stop them. The first thing the guys do is figure out what is going on, get chased by a giant, try to figure it out, get chased again, and find a Historian, and figure out what they are doing. They get on board a ship with Christopher Columbus on it, thanks to One Eyes. They begin talking with there fellow people, but one of them, a spy for the SQ, rats on them, and they get locked up. One Eyes helps them out and they save Christopher Columbus, but Dak almost drowns. They soon get to go in to time again.

When the second book happens, the kids are right in the middle of the war in between the french and the vikings. Riq becomes a translator, and even makes it worse!!!!And Dak get captured by vikings, and almost became stew for a very large dog named Vigi.The whole thing gets worse when Sara befriends a boy,and begins trying to help him, especially when they find out he is a Historian. The SQ begin shooting barbed arrows, and Riq is hit! Then things shape up. With the help of Vigi and her over sized owner, Lugo, Dak escapes. Riq heals in record time, and the three of them warp seeing the boy die.They land in Egypt, and then realize Vigi hitched a ride!They return him 50 years later, and the boy is there! Lugo became adviser of the french, and the SQ was beaten again!

When the third book happens, Riq is a piece of trouble because of two thing:One.He is black And Two.Its the time of the underground railroad. Riq soon is captured for looking like a slave, and Dak and Sera try to save him, but he refused. He was risking his life for a close relative, because that is what will happen while you are time traveling,and he escapes overboard the slave ship with him.Dak and Sera get caught because of helping a slave. The kids escape before they get killed, and seek out Riq. They get kidnapped, and find the other Historians there!They get the Key, and escape with all the historians.They save all of the people from being slaves!

Those are the books i have read.
I will update as soon as possible! :D

Book Report: Dear Bully:

Have you ever been bullied?
Chances are you have.
This book is about 70 authors who have been bullied.
And also bullies and bystanders.
All sort of stories our there.
They have one about the tallest kid in class against the shortest.(And the bully isn't the one you think.)
They have a person who almost killed herself.
And there is a couple of COMICS!!
I found some tools in this book about stopping bullying.
Like, some bullies need to be stood up to, some need to be reported, and some need to be ignored. There are physical and verbal taunts, but all bullies want one thing. Your reaction.
So give them less of that, and most will go away.
There are some websites, like the the trevor project.
So stop bullying when ever you can!

Indian Captive: Book report

This book is about Mary Jemison. She was "Kidnapped" by Indians and was a new Seneca member in a new, frightening world of people, traditions, and houses of the Seneca. This is how the whole thing starts, and then ends.

Molly stared at the forest road as her dad told her to get Neighbor Bickason's Horse.When she comes back, she sees that Some neighbors are home for dinner.One of them say that they are moving out of the area just in case "those Indians attack us". Neighbor Goodheart says he doesn't care about Indians. A couple seconds later, gunshots are heard with a piercing yell, and the Indians are storming the house.

Then they are separated because they have to move faster. Molly, not knowing the second she left sight of her parents they would be shot and killed, left and was sold to a pair of sisters who wanted another Indian because "Large Fire" was killed in a battle with the white men. Molly quickly learns that one of the sisters, Shining Staris the nice, and Squirrel woman was not.

Her clothes and shoes were changed Indian, and she was considered part of the tribe. she made friends with Little turtle, Shagbark, and (soon) becomes friends with Joshia. She also begins seeing traders and begins to see white pepole more often until she realizes she is going to get traded with the white people.
She says no to their offer and becomes  "Little -Woman -of- Great- Courage." From that day on, Little -Woman- of - Great -Courage lived as a Seneca Indian.

Buy it here:http://www.amazon.com/Indian-Captive-Story-Mary-Jemison/dp/0064461629 
: ) hey guys just so you know this is awesome and i would never be able to do it with out you.

Artemis Fowl: The Arctic Incident.

This Book report is about the second book on Artemis fowl.

It all starts when Artemis was being asked the question "Is there anyone you care about in life?"by Doctor Po. Artemis is answering "No." when Butler, his Friend, Manservant and bodyguard, Sends him a message telling him that he has to go to His manor. Po threatens to report him, but Artemis doesn't care and goes any way.

He soon with Butler gets to see the video that Butler was sent somewhere in (Hmm Lets say ) the Arctic. The message is from the captors of Artemis's father, Artemis Fowl 1. He soon goes out to find his father but is quickly stopped by Holly Short, Enemy from the last book. She thinks he is up behind the goblin invasion that have outlawed softnose weaponry powered on human powered weapons.

After being proved innocent, Holly, Root, Artemis, and Butler go and find the new suspect, Luc Carrére.
But when they get to his house, all they find mesmerized Luc, counterfeit euros, and a strange weapon of fairy type.They soon know, after Foaly gets kidnapped, that Luc was mesmerized by Opal Koboi. They soon, with the help of Mulch Diggums,Break into Koboi labs and turn the goblins against Opal. They then realize that Artemis 1 was right there!

More Info here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Artemis_Fowl:_The_Arctic_Incident
Thank you guys!

Redwall

Hi! I am getting a book report on Redwall the first book.
Enjoy!

The book starts when Matthias is collecting nuts and stumbles over the floor.
He tries to pick them up but he accidentally stumbles into the abbot. The abbot soon begins to see no hope in the child's future until he goes out with Constance (badger) and The Curchmouse Family and almost gets captured by Cluny the Scourge!

At Redwall, Surprise is zooming up the charts. The Infamous Cluny the Scrouge... HERE!!! They begin to come with battle plans (Defense Only) and Cluny comes to Redwall and gets let in since he is in disguise with two of his commanders. He Soon rips off his disguise and his second in command reads Cluny's "Amendments". Matthias Rips the paper and (with the help of Constance) drives them out.

The Battle Begins!

Book report: Bridge to Terabitha

The bridge to Terabithia is a great book!
It has Jesse, a boy who loves to run, and Leslie who has a wild imagination.
When Jesse Has become the fastest kid in class, Leslie soon joins the school and beats everybody at a race,Making people stop racing. Jesse begins to dislike Leslie and then soon finds out shes moving in next door! He has a mix of reactions and finally becomes friends with her.Leslie soon thinks up of a secret place, Terabithia.
They soon go across a stream with The Secret Way to Terabithia(aka a rope on a branch) and make a Castle(aka wood hut) and the two become King and Queen.Soon Its Leslie's birthday and as a present, he gets her a Jester/Prince (Aka a dog)! They Begin to have so much fun and then his teacher takes him out on a trip to a museum. But While Leslie is swinging on the rope the branch breaks and she dies!!!!!
He find it out and he hates the world and then he Gives Leslie a burial and then Jessie finds out that his sister , mary, was following him and he finally finds the queen of Terabithia.
Buy the book here.

Book report: Bone The Great Cow Race

The Great Cow Race is a beautiful graphic novel (Second of the series!) about the Bones(Fone bone , Phoney bone, and Smiley) in a position in which might get them home, until Phoney hears about a cow race ... WHICH PEOPLE BET ON!!! In a "Quick way to get rich" scheme, Phoney risks everything on Smiley dressing up as a cow and entering as the MYSTERY cow! Also, Fone gets a very heart breaking moment, when thorn likes a honey seller more then him. So he decides to write a love note... IN RAT CREATURE'S TERRITORY! And the high speed chase that follows will never be matched.Meanwhile, Lucius (Smiley's boss) ruins every thing! Smiley can't lose, otherwise they lose EVERY THING! So, just as Phoneys climbing in, "3... 2... 1... GO!" and he goes off, half in have out. As Fone is running like crazy, he meets up with the possum kids, who decide to help him, and get to the intersection in the road to pull him up onto the tree branch. Unfortunately, Rosie (Thorns grand mother) decides to take a "good look" at the  MYSTERY cow and Phoney is forced to pull Smiley off road, and gets stuck in and "Utter"ly bad position! Waking up a entire troop of rat creatures and geting stuck right next to Fone bone, conversation happens:

• Smiley: *Smoking cigar* H'lo,Fone! I didn't know you were in th' race!
• Fone: Shut -up, smiley!
• Phoney:WouldSomeBodieJustKillMe? 

Mean while, the possum kids come:

• Possum kid 1: Here they come! WOW! What happened?
• Possum kid 2: Beats me! You grab bone, I'll grab his cousin!
• Possum kid 3: Uh-oh...
• Possum kid 1: Uh-oh what?
• Possum kid 3: Uh-oh that!
• Possum kid 1 and 2: Uh-oh!

They were heading right towards the cow race!

This not enough?
Go to:http://www.scholastic.com/bone/index.htm
Then get the game!:http://www.telltalegames.com/bone
Thanks!

Philp Paulman: Brothers Grimm

The Grimm brothers.

Every one knows about the Brothers Grimm, right?
I do!
Wilhelm and Jacob (left--->) are the Grimm brothers.
They only wrote what they were told to write, though, so they just published it under 'Brothers Grimm.'
The B.G. wrote millions...

...but my favorite one is the 'Donkey cabbage!'(Bohemia)
And  I also read 'The crab with golden eggs.'(Calabria)
And they are similar on some things!
Girls change into asses!
 By eating stuff!
And a boy tricks them into it!
And they change back!
They ate CABBAGES!
And I also liked bearskin!

Bearskin is a story about a man who made a bet with the devil.
He has to go seven years looking like a bear, and then he'll be famous!
He even falls in love,while a bear.
And then he almost gets shot.
He also helps people out while (And while not) a bear.
He wins the bet!

Aesop's fables!

Aesop's fables are the best ever!
He used a lot of animals and people, even the elements.
Here is one:

An Angler after a long day's toil, had nothing to show his pains for one small fish. As he was taking the perch off the hook the fish spoke: "Spare me, good fisherman.I am so small I will make you but a sorry meal.Throw me back into the river, and later when I am grown bigger and worth eating, you may come here and catch me again.""No,no," said the wary angler,"I have you now, but if you once get back in the water, your tune will be 'catch me if you can.'"

And he has morals to them(Of course!):

 Moral: Beware the promises of a desperate man!

He wrote the stories to convince people of their way of thinking to his way of thinking.
Aesop was a ex-slave who got free because of his amazing talents of writing fables.
Here is his life: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aesop#Life
Do you like him?
I do!
Oh, and I am making a fable:

 Once, a fight came in between a rhino and a lion, each thinking he was more superior, and they went to the nearby wolf to settle themselves. The wolf, knowing he would probably get killed by the one who lost, made a quick plan. When the lion and rhino came, the wolf said,"I will speak to you, but only one at a time." He then told the rhino he could squish the lion, and the lion he could eat the rhino in a bite. The enemy animals said "I am more powerful!", then looked at each other and sprang , while the wolf made a get away.

  Moral: Make one proud, make one fall.