Siobhan

=**I'm getting the thing off my finger tomorrow!!!! :D** =

1/27/11 Pages 1 through 15

The book I have decided to read independently is //Redwall// by Brian Jacques. So far, the main character, Matthias, seems to appear clumsy. In chapter 1, Matthias talks with father Abbot Mortimer. He tells him about how much he would like to be like the Martin Warrior. The Martin Warrior was a brave mouse who fought for the rights of mice. Mice everywhere are respected because of who the Martin warrior was. Father Mortimer explains that the Warrior was only needed in times of trouble. Chapter 2 changes to a different scene. It is about a rat who has been through rough battle and had lost his eye to a pike. This rat thinks highly of himself and will kill anything in his path. He calls himself Cluny the Scourge. I think he will attack the Redwall abbey because he is riding forward and passed a sign saying the Redwall abbey is only 15 miles away.

In chapter 3, Matthias helps prepare the abbey a delicious meal. Brother Alf and him went fishing for an enormous fish. They sang an interesting song as well. In chapter 4, things start to get serious for Cluny the Scourge. His band of rats is introduced. Cluny doesn't seem to care for them. You can tell so after he killed Skullface, one of his rats. They are also approaching the Redwall abbey and are getting very close. Now, I am pretty sure the Redwall abbey will be attacked.

The main character, Matthias, is downright clumsy. He is famous for always dropping things. Probably because he is so small. His feet are so tiny they don't even fit in his slippers. He's short he constantly trips over his long robes. I think he sounds very cute. Many animals think he is a waste of space. They treat the others differently than they treat Matthias. He also thinks he could be better. I haven't learned much about his background though. He doesn't seem to have parents so far.

So far, I predict there will be a war in the book. I think this because the books right away introduces the Martin Warrior. As I mentioned above, he was a great fighter. He brought peace to all the mice and was a great hero. I know that Matthias will eventually become the Martin Warrior. He expressed how much he wanted to be like Martin in the beginning of the book. The war will probably be between the mice and Cluny the Scourge and his band. It was mentioned that Cluny was always looking for a war. If there wasn't one he will do his best to start one. I know he make a war with the abbey because they mention how close he is to the Redwall abbey.

Siobhan, excellent work! Great details & character analysis. -Miss Bond

1/30/11 Pages 16 through 65

In chapter 5 Matthias meets a mouse named Cornflower. She is a kind, humble and caring mouse. I know that because she and Matthias were taking care of young mice together. They both share the same interests and are becoming friends. At the end of the feast he and Constance the badger are asked to deliver Cornflower and her family home. That's when they pass Cluny's cart. In the following chapter, Cluny and his band realized the had passed by someone else. They don't pay attention because at that moment they arrived at the abbey. Then, the abbey starts planning how to defend themselves. Since all these years the abbey never tried to harm another animal they didn't have any weapons. Less, combat skills. In the next chapter Cluny enters the abbey. He tries to make a deal with the abbot that they will agree to give the abbey or they will all die. Father abbot does not agree. I might not have mentioned it but Cluny had been having nightmares. Nightmares of a noble mouse who continuously haunted him and told him to make the right choice. He saw a picture of the mouse as he exited the abbey and found out it was Martin Warrior.

In the following chapter Cluny decides to conquer his fear about Martin. He asks Shadow and anther rat to come with him to steal the picture from the abbey. Shadow was special. He is an expert at stealing and basically sneaking around anywhere to do anything. Later that night Shadow breaks into the abbey. He climbs the enormous walls, picks locks and opens rusty, old doors. When he found the picture of Martin he started gnawing on the tapestry attached to the picture. Meanwhile, Matthias can't sleep. He is sweating and tossing and turning in his bed. He feels like something is wrong, something bad is happening. Finally, a voice calls out to him "hurry! before it's too late! the great hall is in danger!". Matthias jumped out of bed and headed to the great hall. He saw a rat and screamed "stop him!" just as he started running away. Shadow was killed but he managed to get the picture to Cluny. He was pitiless.

Matthias shows a lot of courage around the rats. He yells, talks back and threatens them. Cluny hates him. He thinks he's annoying and "ought to have his tongue ripped off". Nowadays with the rats around and a war about to start everyone needs to get ready to fight. They have many meetings to make plans and decide what is best for the abbey. In the meetings Matthias displays courage, leadership, sympathy and care. A lot of others think he is like Martin Warrior. I've read ahead of page 65 and there is a prophecy saying that Martin will come to life in Matthias.

I like this book a lot. It reminds me a lot of another book called //Dealing with Dragons//. I really enjoyed that book probably because of the animals involved. You probably know I like //Harry Potter//. After reading the series I think I enjoyed the use of magic. //Redwall// uses a fair amount of magic and the deeper I go into the book the more magic appears. I remember a few years ago I read about 2 chapters of this book. For some reason I hated it. I don't know what the difference is now. I think this book might be in a higher level of language. Normally if I read a book like that I probably would like it I just have trouble reading it. A few years back my father bought me //Lord of the Rings//. I managed to get through //The Hobbit.// The whole time I couldn't wait till the end. I'm sure I would enjoy them now but I can't remember to read them. Anyways, I am really enjoying the book and after I read ahead I found out there will be a quest which I am looking forward to.

2/8/11 Pages 66 through 200 ( I read a lot for some reason...)

Matthias is congratulated for his bravery in the next chapter. Then, for no apparent reason Matthias just left the abbey. He was headed for the Church of St. Ninian, the camp of Cluny the Scourge. A chapter later Matthias is confronted by a strange voice which he cannot find the source of. He is then introduced to Basil Stag Hare. Basil is a family name, Stags are noble creatures which Basil wishes to be and he is of course a Hare. Basil agrees to try and break into the rat’s camp to retrieve the picture of Martin. They finally get to the camp only to realize the picture wasn’t there, but probably with Cluny on his way to attack Redwall abbey.

<span style="font-family: 'Palatino Linotype','Book Antiqua',Palatino,serif;">Previously, Cluny, Shadow and another rat went to get a picture of Martin. The other rat was Ragear. He wasn’t able to keep up with Cluny as he escaped with the picture. He fell into a ditch and got injured. He made his way into Mossflower Woods. He lay to rest there until a huge snake strangled him. The snake kept whispering, “Asmodeussssssssssssssssssss. Asmodeussssssssssssssssssss.” A few other rats witnessed this happening and reported it to Cluny. He gave it no attention.

<span style="font-family: 'Palatino Linotype','Book Antiqua',Palatino,serif;">Something needed to be done. The mice were undefended and they needed Martin’s sword. They had his scabbard but they had no idea where Martin left his sword. Brother Methulsa and Matthias decided to get the sword. They find a prophecy stating that Martin will come alive in Matthias and that the sword is to the north and a beam of moonlight will shine upon it in its position. They realize that the sword is in the north side of the abbey. They get Jess Squirrel to climb up and get the sword. She only finds a place where the sword could have been with wire hanging around.

<span style="font-family: 'Palatino Linotype','Book Antiqua',Palatino,serif;">Around the end the Sparras became a problem. The Sparras are a type of bird that had inhabited the roof of the abbey. They had to shoot arrows to scatter them so Jess could climb down. One got shot. It was a young Sparra named Warbeak. He wanted to kill Matthias. He threatened that the King Bull Sparra (his uncle) would kill him with a big shiny sword that they stole from the abbey. Clearly this is Martin’s sword. He and Warbeak then have to go into the Sparra territory on the roof of the abbey. Matthias has to take tunnels and stairs to get there. On the way Warbeak almost killed Matthias. Then Matthias pushes Warbeak off the stairs and catches him. Warbeak swears on his momma’s egg chick to be Matthias’ friend and not harm him. They finally get up to their territory and are immediately attacked.

<span style="font-family: 'Palatino Linotype','Book Antiqua',Palatino,serif;">There is no longer any doubt that Matthias is like Martin. He is Martin. In the prophecy he was reading Martin is supposed to become alive in Matthias. He is more heroic and brave nowadays. He is always going all over the land doing things for the abbey. Normally he goes without others knowing. He thinks that they will probably stop him. They actually will because they don’t think he’s ready for it. He isn’t really ready for things he does. He tried to retrieve Martin’s picture but he was unsuccessful. He didn’t get scared or injured but he wasn’t successful either. He just doesn’t seem ready to do things like that. Matthias just seems not to know how to make good choices.

<span style="font-family: 'Palatino Linotype','Book Antiqua',Palatino,serif;">I like this book a lot. The reasons are really the same. I suppose I also like when animals are used in books. I don’t know what it’s called… Some series about owls by Kathryn Lasky. I like it a lot. I guess I like how authors make animals smart. As in the intelligent kind of smart. How we can build our own society. I like how they are able to develop a whole world basically like earth but instead of humans, animals rule. I suppose I like cool, strange made-up lands in general.

=<span style="color: #008080; font-family: Impact,Charcoal,sans-serif;">I finished Redwall! I'm reading Mossflower by Brian Jacques! (same author) =

<span style="color: #008080; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS',Helvetica,sans-serif;">Changed my mind. I started reading Dark Life by Kat Falls. I actually just finished on the same day! Should I start writing an entry?

2/14/11 Pages 1 through 304 (all of Dark Life by Kat Falls)

In the beginning of Dark Life Ty, the main character, meets Gemma. Ty has lived subsea all his life. He was the first kid to be born subsea. He is sixteen years old now. So is Gemma. She has lived Topside all her life and is part of the commonwealth. Ty and Gemma meet in an abandoned sub that is attached to the Specter, the Seablite gang’s ship. They find a pool of human blood.

Gemma has no parents and only has her brother Richard Straid. The only she went subsea because she wants to be free to do whatever she wants not under the boarding schools authority. If she gets the emancipation form signed by Richard she’ll be free. She also thinks Ty posses the Dark Gift. A gift that can only be obtained from being underwater for a long time.

Helping Gemma isn’t so easy. Outlaws are giving trouble to the subsea inhabitants. No place is safe. After the Peevies get robbed and Lars is almost murdered by them everyone is watching their backs. Doc, Ty’s doctor is giving him a hard time. Not only Ty, but also his sister Zoe and his friend Hewitt Peevy. He is being so nosy about trying to check them. They can all do pretty strange things.

Doc told Ty the reason why the outlaws were called the Seablite gang. They broke out of a jail called Seablite. But their break-out was strange. One of the group members knocked out all the jail keepers for exactly 20 minutes. When 20 minutes was over everything was back to normal as if nothing ever happened. Some people think the gang posses the Dark Gift.

The commonwealth on the Topside is also getting tired of supplying the Dark Life with things like liquigen, a liquid with oxygen. Recently as the Dark Livers come in closer contact to outlaws Ty meets Shade, the leader of the outlaws who have been calling themselves the Seablite gang. He thought he killed Ty in the middle of the open ocean but he didn’t. Even thought Ty had no mini sub or even manta board he made it home somehow. He was able to use his surroundings to figure out where he was, kind of like echolocation. That’s not all. He can talk to dolphins and whales.

Since Richard works for the underwater government there is a place Gemma suspects he could be. The place where workers come to relax and take a break. While there, Ty meets Shade again. First Ty sees him. He tells a ranger that he found him and that he’s an albino. When Shade closes in on him he threatens that if he sees him tell someone what he looked like again, he’d kill him.

After leaving the lounge Ty and Gemma do some exploring. They found Seablite. Ty decided he wanted to do some exploring he went in. Gemma and Ty looked into old drawers one of them had pictures. It was for pictures of the prisoners there. Gemma was shocked when she found a picture of Richard. She started crying and then a whale appeared outside. Ty started talking with the whale. Gemma doesn’t understand and starts claiming that Ty has a Dark Gift.

He tells her the truth. When he turned 12 something strange happened. He started hearing and seeing things in a strange way. Without looking he could tell where he was by making a sound to sense his surroundings. He could also calculate distance and speed. He could even communicate with dolphins and whales. One doctor had gotten him very annoyed. He told his parents and they took him Topside. The doctors did all sorts of surgeries on him. He had scars all over his body and they were also experimenting on him. The doctor made fake documentaries on him. He told Gemma he did have the Dark Gift.

After that they headed to the Peeves. They were celebrating since all the neighbors were bringing livestock so they could restart their lives. At the party Ty talks to Doc. He talks to him about meeting Shade. More importantly that he’s an albino.

After the party Ty’s family heads home. Gemma comes with them and they go to sleep.

Ty is woken by the sound of something rubbing on the side of his house. He runs down stairs and Shade walks toward him. The two start fighting. Zoe comes down just as Ty is kicked in the ribs. Since Shade is standing in a puddle Ty tells Zoe to electrocute him. Without any weapon she does it. Shade isn’t hurt but Ty is. The ranger comes back just in time to capture Shade.

Gemma and Ty go to see Shade the next day. He has the picture Gemma was missing from Seablite. Gemma reaches in and Shade pulls her into the jail cell. The ranger gives Ty the keys. He opens the cell and Shade escapes with Gemma. Ty looks all over the docking range for her. Then he sees her through a hole in the floor. He also sees Shade happily walking toward her. He’s smiling for some reason. He grabs her and starts hugging her. He tells her he’s missed her and Gemma says she missed him. But she called him Richard. That’s because Shade was Richard, Gemma’s brother.

Everyone starts chasing everyone around and they all eventually meet in one room. Doc is there and he and Shade are acting strange around each other. Shade calls him a traitor and Doc calls him and idiot. Shade explains to Ty that Doc is the same doctor that experimented with them. He says any young adult can obtain the Dark Gift if they’re down long enough. Zoe says she has the gift of electricity. Hewitt says he’s a whiz. He can calculate anything that has to do with numbers. The whole Seablite gang shows proof by showing scares where they were preformed on.

By that time Doc was trying to escape with the last of liquigen and subs. He throws a harpoon at the glass of the room that they’re in. For some reason his sub fail and he starts drowning. The safety glass had been four inches thick. The adults think it’ll last but Hewitt says it will give away in a few seconds. It does. The room is rushing with water. Ty whistles and dolphins start appearing. They carry them up to the surface. They all live but the Seablite gang stays behind in the Specter. In the end everyone is happily living underwater.

The main character Ty is courageous. He isn’t afraid of doing anything. He’ll get in trouble just to spare his friends lives. Obviously, he has the Dark Gift. He is probably the most gifted. He is basically connected to the ocean. He can communicate with it and he can do anything there. Ty isn’t careful about his choices. He does thing without thinking.

I liked this book a lot and I recommend it to people who are interested in science fiction. A lot of science was in the book. Things about water pressure altering brains. It has a lot f drama. I enjoyed and really would like to read more books like this.

=__**<span style="color: #008080; font-family: 'Lucida Console',Monaco,monospace; margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">I'm reading Mossflower by Brian Jacques! **__=

<span style="font-family: 'Lucida Console',Monaco,monospace;">2/24/11 <span style="font-family: 'Lucida Console',Monaco,monospace;">Pages 1 through 40 <span style="font-family: 'Lucida Console',Monaco,monospace;">In the first chapter Martin the Warrior stumbles into Mossflower territory. He’s captured and guards which take him to their kingdom. It is called Kotir the place of the wildcats. Tsarmina the king’s daughter wanted the throne. So she got him sick. Now the healer was here. At the same time Martin was brought in the room. They said the punishment for trespassing in Mossflower territory was exile. They escorted Martin to the dungeons for that moment.

<span style="font-family: 'Lucida Console',Monaco,monospace;">The healer started making the medicine. Gingivere, Tsarmina’s little brother is asked to give it to the king. Later the king is pronounced dead and Gingivere is blamed. But Tsarmina and Verduga planned the whole thing. Now it was her turn to have the throne. Later another person accompanies Martin in his cell. Gonff tried to rob Kotir and got sent to the cell.

<span style="font-family: 'Lucida Console',Monaco,monospace;">Martin tells Gonff his story. He tells him how his father became injured and they moved into a cave. Martin had to protect him. He used his father’s sword to fend off enemies. When his father got better a sea voyager asked him to come with him to stop bad rats. Martin’s father said if he wasn’t back by the beginning of autumn Martin was free in the world. He left his sword to Martin and never returned. Martin waited until the end of autumn but his father still didn’t come. That was when Martin decided there was no point waiting so he left. That’s when he got trapped here.

<span style="font-family: 'Lucida Console',Monaco,monospace;">I think Martin is very intelligent. I have already read the sequel and Matthias who is supposed to be like Martin was very clumsy at first. Martin is a warrior at heart. He will go against anyone and anything. Even the wildcats are afraid of him. The wildcats describe him as a big mouse. Especially with his sword I think the wildcats are intimidated of him.

<span style="font-family: 'Lucida Console',Monaco,monospace;">I really like this book. It reminds me a lot about the situation at Redwall. The only difference is there is only one mouse. And the enemy is the wildcats. In most of Redwall, Matthias spent all his time looking for Martin’s sword. Here there is already a lot of violence around. There is probably going to be a war soon. Everything is dark, gloomy and sad.

2/28/11

Pages 40 through 79

The officials in Kotir are planning to release Gonff. Since Martin and Gonff have kind of formed an alliance Gonff will help Martin escape. Without even waiting for release, Gonff and Martin begin to escape from their cell. It only went wrong when Tsarmina saw them and chased after them around the palace.

Gonff almost killed Tsarmania but he only stabbed her paw. When the cats couldn’t find them anymore the layed to rest and not sleep. But Gonff slept anyways. Tsarmania almost caught them but Martin woke Gonff up at the last minute but it seemed like Gonff was planning to make a run for it. It wasn’t clear but it seemed like Martin and Gonff had made it out of the palace.

Martin isn’t much different from the beginning. He just seems very dependent on Gonff. He used to be so smart and he knew everything. But Gonff doesn’t let Martin in charge of anything so Martin lost his leadership. He depends on Gonff for every decision. I think at some point Gonff will die and Martin will be on his own to make very tough decisions that he doesn’t know how to figure out.

I think this book is kind of boring. Nothing different ever happens. It’s always the same. Martin and Gonff are just running around all over the castle and they aren’t doing anything different. I think it’s time that they move on or I’m done with this book. I don’t understand how this author can just keep writing and writing about the same thing that never changes.

<span style="font-family: 'Lucida Console',Monaco,monospace;"> 3/6/11 <span style="font-family: 'Lucida Console',Monaco,monospace;"> Pages 79 through 100 <span style="font-family: 'Lucida Console',Monaco,monospace;"> The soldiers of Kotir have started searching for Gonff and Martin. They have also noticed some strange and unknown threat. They have also officially made Tsarmina queen of Kotir. At this point of the story birds are coming in. Chibb the robin is a Nobel robin trying to defend his kingdom’s territory from wildcats. They are also finding Martin and his group is walking through. A mole from the area happens to know Gonff and actually works for him and is happy to see him.

<span style="font-family: 'Lucida Console',Monaco,monospace;"> Gonff and Martin are treated as guests here. The wildcats don’t stop their search for them anyways. Coming back into the story is Gingivere. He is horrible. He was once a very beautiful wildcat but he looks almost dead. I think he might live and help Martin in some way. I think Tsarmina is actually trying to kill him. Tsarmina probably doesn’t want him around because he is small evidence that he didn’t kill his father.

<span style="font-family: 'Lucida Console',Monaco,monospace;"> Martin doesn’t change much at all. In the beginning of Gonff and his escape Gonff says he’ll be in charge. Instead, Martin is really the one taking the lead in their escape. Martin is getting his own opinions of the wildcats. He learns they were once good but they always had a flaw of greed. They wanted power mostly, just like Tsarmina. He thinks that maybe Gingivere might not be greedy.

<span style="font-family: 'Lucida Console',Monaco,monospace;">The book is getting slightly more interesting. With all the stuff about the birds land. Also, Gingivere’s execution may be coming closer since Tsarmina is choosing the weapon. I really want to see if Gingivere may escape. If he ran into Martin and Gonff it would be interesting to see what would happen. I feel like I force myself to read this book. I think I’ll stay away from the rest of the series unless I hear it’s really good or something.