Kathleen+Embrey

1/6/10 Mr. dark tries to get the boys to go to the carnival. Charles talks to the boys and helps them temporarily escape from the Freaks. Charles tells the boys that the carnival travels around looking for depressed people. Then the carnival people can take their souls. Mr. Dark tries to get the kids by telling hey lies. Mr. Dark gets the boys and when Charles tries to save them he gets his hand crushed.The witch casts a spell on the boys that prevents them from seeing or hearing or speaking. Mr. Dark tells the witch to stop Charles' heart and right before Charles is about to die he start to laugh. This hurts the witch and Charles gets away. The Witch goes back to the carnival and tells Mr. Dark that Charles is still alive. Mr. Dark introduces her as the bullet catcher and asks for a volunteer. Charles steps forward. Charles gets the gun and asks Will to come onstage. Charles marks the bullet with a smile and the witch dies.

Charles and Will get forced into the mirror maze. Charles breaks the maze and they see the freaks with Mr. Cooger. The freaks drop the man and he crumbles. Jim is stuck on the Merry-go-round and Will tries to save him, but he falls onto the machine. Will jumps off the machine with Jim but he doesn't respond. Mr. Dark is crushed by the tattooed man and Will tries to revive Jim. The freaks run away as their tattoos fade and the carnival crumbles. Will starts to cry an Charles tells him that they need to sing and dance. The two began to dance and jim wakes up and joins them. Charles destroys the machine he created and the three walk home.

I really like this book. It was really interesting and fun. It was sort of science fiction but not, it was more fantasy or something. I like the idea of tattoos controlling people and when Mr. Dark dies they disappear. Also everything else falls apart when Mr. Dark dies, like the carnival itself. I liked how Charles shot the witch and killed her with a smile, I think it's really a neat idea. I think the ending was a little cliche but I still read furiously to see what happened to Jim. I liked when Charles decided to destroy the machine because they couldn't ride it just once. It's nice to see the good magic winning against the dark magic. I Really like how the good magic is laughter and happiness. In the end Will was happy about just being a young boy. I would recommend this book to everybody. Even if you don't like fantasy or science fiction this book is really good. Thanks for reading!

12/16/10 In the morning Will and Jim go to see the carnival. Everything seems normal. They find a bag that belongs to the salesman. The boys want t ride the merry-go-round even though it's out of order. Two men grab the boys, but the man in the suit tell them to put the boys down. The boys run away an hide in a tree. The see the merry go round spin backward and the man gets younger with each turn. The person that step off is twelve. The boys chase the young boy. They lose the boy but the next day the see him and chase the young boy back the the carnival. Will and Jim push the man onto the carousal, he gets older an older as the boys fight. The man is really old and they think he's dead. They call the cops and when the boys return with cops the see all the freaks willing life back into the man. A witch marks JHim's house so the carnival people can tell. The two wash it off. They now plan to get the witch, and the carnival people back. First I would like to say that they are crazy to go back to the carnival. I would have stayed away. Even though Mr. Cooger was bad I still didn't like it when he almost died. Those Carnival people really freak me out. I want to find out how the boys will get the freaks back. They wage war and I wonder how it will end. I can't wait to read more. Also I think a carousal like that would be nice.

After talking to his mom Jim decided to knock the lightning rod down. I think this was silly and that maybe later it will effect the story. The lightning rod salesman goes to Charles' shop and sees a woman in ice. He thinks she's beautiful, when he opens the door and steps in, the door shuts behind him. he notices a Later that night, 3 AM, Jim and Will hear a train coming. The two look out their windows and decide to go see it because it's a carnival. As the two run out the field they see a man in a balloon basket and a dark suit signals and people start to set up the tents. Nobody talks or anything. Will gets freaked out by the fact nobody is talking. When the clouds, that were covering the moon, move they see that the tents and everybody is gone. The two run home in fright. Charles sees the boys run home and sees the lights of the carnival an thinks if he should go. As charles walks home he sees the shop where the lightning rod salesman had gone in and all that's left is a pool of water and shards of glass. I think this is a really good book. Some parts are really freaky. If I were to see an entire carnival disappear I would flip out and never go to anything like that again. I like how the author mixes the boys' thoughts about their friendship between the action in the story. I really want to know what will happen to the woman and the lightning rod salesman. I think it's weird that charles sees the carnival too. What troubles me more is that when Charles sees the water and glass he dismisses it. I can't wait to read more.
 * 12/6/10**

This book is about Jim Nightshade and Will Halloway. The two boys are sitting on the lawn talking about how the months of now school are fun and those leading us to it are the worst. It's stormy and a lightning rod salesman comes to the boys and gives them a lighting rod saying that lighting will strike Jim's house. Jim wants the lighting to it his house because it will be exciting,but Will talks him into putting it up. The two boys got to the library and on the way there Jim thinks he hears music. At the library they meet the old janitor who is Will's dad. I like this book. The characters are real, the two protagonists are your stereotypical young boys. Bradbury's description's of evertyhing is really good. He takes time, yet doesn't bore, when describing even the smallest things which may be big later because of all the foreshadowing. One part I really liked was when the Tim, the salesman, talks about why the lightning rod has all the different symbols on it. He says, "What tongue does the wind talk? What nationality is a storm? What country do rains come from?...I got the only lighting rods in the world that hear,feel,know and sass back any storm no matter what tongue, voice, or sign." I enjoy this character's voice and hope to hear more of it in the future.
 * 1/18/10 **

**11/4/10** Second Quarter

My second book is //Something Wicked This Way Comes// by Ray Bradbury. I chose this book because I enjoy Ray Bradbury's short stories. I found this novel in my family's personal collection.__ Hey it's Kathleen Embrey and I'm reading // The Age of Innocence // by Edith Wharton. I chose this novel because I love fashion and I thought reading a period piece would be fun in the descriptions of the clothing. I found this book in my family's personal collection, as my mother is a teacher so it is rather extensive. So far Newland Archer, part of New York's high society, is engaged to May Welland. Archer goes to the opera and sees May's cousin, Ellen Olsenka. One's reputation is everything in this society. Ellen left her cheating husband in Europe and moved back with her family. Archer meets her and even though the two don't talk he supports her decision. Newland and May go the the Beaufort ball and announce their engagement. He is happy that he did not tell Ellen, because she didn't go. One part I didn't like about the book is Archer shows up "Fashionably late" to the Opera. Being fashionable defines these people and I find it hard to accept people shape their lives out of what others say. Also because I love theater! Ellen's family is looked down upon a little bit. That's why when Newland even goes to their family's opera box it's meaningful. I think the message of this story is 1.) love and 2.) Social standards and deciding what you want. I love Wharton's descriptions, she can place you beside Archer and make you see what he's seeing and feeling. This novel is interesting and I can't wait to see what Newland does.

I read //The Age of Innocence// by Edith Wharton. This book follows our protagonist, Newland Archer, through his high society New York life. He must make decisions between his heart and what society dictates. Newland figures out that he loves Ellen on vacation. Ellen wants to divorce her husband, but Newland, following the wants of his family, persuades her not to. He returns home to May and asks her to get married sooner. Newland and May get married and live in New York. Ellen returns to care for her sick grandmother and reunites with Newland. Ellen soon leaves and May tells Newland that she told Ellen that she was pregnant. After some time May and Newland have three children. May dies of Pneumonia. Newland has a chance to go to Europe to see Ellen again, but instead sends his son. I really enjoyed this book. The writing was wonderful and I felt as though I was watching a movie. I think it's sad that Newland could never love the person he loved because of society. I also felt sad for May, despite her decisions. She had to sit by as her Fiance fell in love with another woman. Newland couldn't do what he wanted because his family didn't like it. I think that if your heart tells you to do something, then you should do it. People should have the courage to be an individual. I like how Newland chose to remember Ellen the way she was instead of meeting her in her old age. I think it's beautiful that Ellen was a memory of Newland's youth. I really liked this book and I would recommend it to anyone who wants to be captured by a story. But seeing as how you just read how the book ends... that's your decision.