Samsing Camping Fun

   

   
     This last Friday my family went on a camping trip to the Samsing cabin. It was really fun, because I love camping, and I haven't been camping in for ever. We had a really long day packing. It was super stressful. Then we arrived at the cabin in two boats, a speed boat and a sail boat. I was in the speedboat, which is good, because I don't like going slow.  The camping trip was fun. We had a great time, and my mom, who supposedly hates camping, actually liked it a little bit. I hope I have the chance to do it again this summer.

Book Review IV

The Lions Of Little Rock, by Kristen Levine, is about a girl named Marlee, who didn't talk much in public. She lived in Little Rock, Arkansas. On Marlee's first day of middle school, all of the high schools shut down, because African Americans were passing for whites. Marlee's sister, Judy, was in high school, and her mom taught there, so  Judy had to stay home, but her mom still had to go to work still. on Marlees first day she met a new girl named Elizabeth, or Liz for short. Liz just spoke out about anything she wanted. She was very brave. Marlee became friends with her, and started talking more. The schools wern't opening up anytime soon, so Judy had to stay home, but her mom had to go to work still. On Marlees first day she met a new girl named Elizabeth, or Liz for short. Liz just spoke out about anything she wanted. She was very brave. Marlee became friends with her, and started talking more. The schools weren't opening up anytime soon, so Judy had to go live with her grandma in pine bluff. Marlee was not happy about that. She loved her sister, and felt like she was the only one she could talk to. Liz asked if Marlee wanted to do a project together. When they got together, Liz told her that if she talked a lot in the speech that when along with the project, she would give her a whole book of magic squares, and Marlee loved numbers, so she said she would. On the day of the speech, Marlee was a nervous wreck. When she got to school, Liz wasn't there, so Marlee did the speech by herself. The teacher pulled her aside later to tell her that Liz was passing for a white, but was actually a black. Marlee still wanted to be friends, so she sent her a note telling her to meet by the lions in the zoo. They kept meeting like that at a rock crusher. Then J.D., Marlee's crush, and his older brother found out about about it. Marlee wasn't supposed to be seeing Liz, so J.D.s brother found some dynamite in the woods, and threatened to explode Liz's house. Marlee got home, and told her parents everything that happened. Her parents got really mad, and called the police. The police had no evidence, but with Marlees help, they eventually caught him, but he through a stick inside a house the were having a meeting in , but nowone got hurt. Marlee wasn't aloud to see Liz anymore, but she could still call her, and the high schools opened back up with a few black students enrolled, and life was practically back to normal for Marlee.

One of the main themes in this book is to speak out and not be afraid. An example of how this theme is shown is when Marlee decided to join the WEC. "I cared. Helping Liz leaving notes for Mother and sending candy bars to Judy was nice, but it wasn't enough. Not when there might be more that I could do" (132). Another example is when Marlee spoke to a stranger on the plane. ""Coke, please," I said firmly, just like a grown up. Then I relized. I had spoken to a stranger and I hadn't even counted prime numbers first"(161). One last example is when Marlee broke away from J.D., because she decided she didn't like him."I finally  dropped his arm and skated away from him, and it wasn't as bad as I thought it would be"(190). To speak out and not be afraid is a main theme in this book.

  I would recommend this book to other seventh grade  readers, because it's a really good book. It explains friendship very well by making it hard to break. It all so explains how hard it was for blacks in that time. It was a really easy read too. Last of all, the author explained stuff really well. I do recommend this book to other seventh graders.

  The author, Kristin Levine, wrote two other books. The Paper Cowboy is about a bully that thinks of himself as a cowboy. The Best Bad Luck I Ever Had is about Dit and  Emma who try to save a barber from a punishment. Those books sound pretty good.

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