Khristina's Book Blog

I read Hatchet by Gary Paulsen. This book received the Newbery medal in 1988. I really enjoyed reading this book, but not just because of the storyline. I really like how Gary Paulsen writes. He used repetition and fragments of sentences to really convey what the character is thinking and feeling. This book is about a thirteen-year-old boy named Brian. At the beginning of the book, Brian is working through the emotions of his parent's fresh divorce. It's hard, as it would be for any kid, but Brian also knew a secret. That his mom was/had been seeing another man. Brian is going through the thoughts in his head while he's on a small plane on the way to stay with his dad for the summer. However, everything changes when the pilot has a heart attack mid flight. Brian lands the plane in a lake, and barely makes it out alive. A major chunk of the book is learning how Brian survives. Brian has a mental change after about a week after the crash. He changes from being hopeful of resc...

I read The Giver by Lois Lowry. This book received the Newbery Award Medal. I remembered reading this book in seventh grade English class, and loving it. It was a joy re-reading it, and I remembered all the reasons I really enjoyed this book. Also, my brother, Kevin is in seventh grade, and he's reading The Giver  in his English class. This book is about a boy named Jonas who lives in a world way in the future that has so many changes to make the perfect society. Some of these changes include: climate control, no animals, rules against rudeness, sharing of feelings and dreams at meals, no colors, precision of language, babies are given to families with a max of two, spouses are assigned not chosen, release instead of natural death, and careers are assigned at twelve-years-old in which training starts right away. The biggest meat of the story is when Jonas isn't assigned a career, but selected to be the new Receiver of Memory. The Receiver of Memory is the person who remembers h...

I read Shiloh by Phyllis Reynolds Naylor. This book received the Newbery Medal Award. I had read this book when I was younger, and remembered loving it. However, I had forgot the characters and main storyline. Shiloh is about a family of a mom, dad, two young girls, and Marty who is the oldest child. Marty loves the outdoors, and finds this dog that he falls in love with. However, this dog ends up belonging to Jud Travers who is known for abusing his dogs. Marty decides to hide the dog to protect him. Marty named the dog Shiloh. Sadly, another big dog attacked Shiloh at night. Marty and his dad take Shiloh to the doctor who saves Shiloh. However, Jud Travers is not happy to hear that Marty had been hiding his dog. Marty makes a deal with Jud Travers to work for him for two weeks to buy Shiloh so he can keep him. In the end, Marty gets to keep Shiloh, and Shiloh is saved from being abused from Jud Travers. I think the appropriate grade level for this book would be third grade to ninth g...