One Handed Catch by MJ Auch

This book is based on a true story about a boy named Norm who’s torn between being an artist or being a baseball pitcher.  He loves to draw cars and he loves playing baseball with his friends.  But his life changes one day when he’s helping in his dad’s store.  His hand gets stuck in a meat grinder and has to be amputated.  Will he ever be able to do the things he had done with two hands?
                    

Norm’s friends and his parents (especially his mom) make him do things on his own.  For example, his mom talked to all of his teachers and told them to do to him as they would do to other students, NO SPECIAL TREATMENT!!!  But he really wanted to play on the summer league baseball team.  One of his dad’s customers donated to him a right handed baseball glove his son had used.  

The night of the hardest game the team had ever played, the coach put him in to pitch.  They were down by ten runs.  Can Norm pull the team out of the slump?  Sure, he’s an inspirational player, but is he a baller?

This is the best book I’ve read in months, so I give it a 5 star rating.  I don’t think I’ve ever been so excited to hear my teacher say that it’s time to read in class.  I like it so much because I have a passion for books that are a mix of fiction and nonfiction.  To think that a young boy actually lost his hand and had to figure out how to do the things he loves with one hand and a stub is encouraging.   No matter how big and troubling my problems seem, there’s always someone with one that I can’t even imagine.

The Indian in the Cupboard by Lynne Reid Banks

Omri, the main character, gets a cupboard and a plastic Indian for his birthday.  The cupboard doesn’t have a key so he looks through his mom’s key collection only to find a special one with a red satin ribbon on it that happens to open the cupboard.  Omri doesn’t know what to put in the cupboard so his mom suggests that he put the plastic Indian in it.  He does and the next morning Omri wakes to a scratching sound coming from the cupboard.  Omri opens the cupboard door and there stands the plastic Indian now…  ALIVE!!!!!!!  Omri is so shocked he is speechless.  Imagine how shocked the Indian is!  The Indian’s name is Little Bear and he is an Iroquois.  Throughout the book Little Bear is very demanding of Omri and, at times, Omri gets a little upset at him.

As the story continues, you find out that Omri and Little Bear get a few visitors, some wanted and some unwanted.  But, no matter what happens, Little Bear and Omri are always the best of friends. 

I give this book a three star rating because of the comedy in it.  I think the authors craft is character building.  Each of the characters in the story are different.  Boone is funny and Little Bear is demanding and more serious.  Omri is caring and Patrick is more happy.

This is a link to a site with more information about the Iroquois Indians:  

http://www.tolatsga.org/iro.html

The Whipping Boy by Sid Fleischman

 

Photo credits:

#1: uk.onlinenigeria.com, #2: chataboutchina.com, #3: superstock.com, #4: 123rf.com, #5: shelfari.com

War Horse by Michael Morpurgo

This book is told from the perspective of Joey, a horse.  The War Horse.  Joey has an amazing journey across many countries in Europe as a soldier during a world war.  

But I think this book is really about relationships.  You learn at the beginning of the book that Joey loves his mother, but is separated from her at an auction when he is just a young colt.  The book goes on to tell about a special relationship that Joey builds with a boy named Albert.  Joey and Albert know each other so well it’s like they can read each other’s minds.  Albert’s dad sells Joey to the British army at the beginning of the war.  Albert promises Joey that he will find him again, but will he?  Joey builds relationships and gives hope to other horses, military men, and so many other people as he experiences war along with them.  One soldier says, “To find a horse like this in the middle of this filthy abomination of a war is for me like finding a butterfly on a dung heap.”

I like this book because it shows how you can always make friends and build new relationships but still love your old friends.  I had a friend that moved away two years ago.  Even though we don’t get to see each other very much, when we do get together it’s like we’ve never been apart – just like Joey and Albert.

I give this book a four star rating.  This story seems so real, but some of the German and British expressions are hard to understand.    

This website link is for the War Horse: Fact & Fiction exhibit at the National Army Museum in London, England:  http://www.nam.ac.uk/microsites/war-horse/explore/

Dodger and Me by Jordan Sonnenblick

A Video Post

Soul Surfer by Bethany Hamilton

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZnyopNkTWsU

This book is about a young girl who loves two things: surfing and God.  Bethany Hamilton writes this book about her love of surfing and how nothing, not even a shark attack that severs her left arm, can stop her from doing what she loves.  One day she went out to surf with her good friend Alana.  It was like any other day on the water, except on this day, a shark interrupted their good time by biting off Bethany’s arm.  Her descriptions of how she felt after the attack really made me feel what she was feeling.  It was hard for her to see her friends doing things that she couldn’t do or didn’t feel comfortable doing because of her arm.  Bethany struggled learning how to do simple tasks with only one arm and got frustrated sometimes, but her faith in God helped her to recover and get back out on the water.

She wants people to know that good things can come out of even the worst situations.  Because of what happened to Bethany, she has been able to reach out to people all over the world and tell them about Jesus, encouraging them in their faith.  

I give this book a five star rating because of Bethany’s colorful descriptions of the shark attack and how her faith in God helped her to recover and triumph.  I also like that Bethany is not afraid to share her faith with other people.

http://bethanyhamilton.com/

http://soulsurfer.com/

Top picture:  sloblogs.thetributenews.com.  Bottom picture: surfing-news.com.

Small Steps: The Year I Got Polio by Peg Kehret

This book is an autobiography about Peg and her struggle with some bad news.  It all starts when Peg collapses in the hallway at school, then gets a bad headache when she gets home.  Her concerned parents take her to the doctor who eventually figures out that she has polio.  She is twelve years old.  

Peg is put in Sheltering Arms Hospital where she shares a room with Shirley, Alice, Dorothy, and Ren’ee, other girls that are around her age.  Peg’s parents bring her gifts when they visit her for the first time, but then they find out she has roommates whose parents aren’t around much.  When they visit the next time, Peg’s parents bring gifts for all of the girls.  The girls really like it because they feel like part of a family (since most of their real families haven’t visited in 7-8 months or more).  It really means a lot to Alice, whose parents never visit her because they think she is too ugly.  When it’s time for Peg to leave Sheltering Arms, she wants to go home but doesn’t want to leave all of the close friends she’s made in the time that she’s been there.

The purpose of this autobiography is to help readers understand the trials Dorothy, Re’nee, Alice, Shirley and Peg go through and how these girls find refuge and escape from their illnesses in each other.  When they are together, they can be girlfriends, instead of sick kids.  

I give this book a five star rating (more if I had more stars to give) because of the description of how these girls lean on each other and the fight they put up to stay alive.

http://www.worthpoint.com/worthopedia/sheltering-arms-polio-hospital-96520998

http://www.childrenshospital.org/research/polio_gallery/