Alex Rider

Alex Rider: Crocadile Tears

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Alex Rider: Crocodile Tears

Anthony Horowitz

11/28/11

30 min.

Page: 1-33

Plot: The most heart stopping thing I read in my book today was that a man named Riv worked at a nuclear power plant in India. He and some other guys had been exchanging things for favors. Riv's thing was money and an i-Pad 2. He would get enough money to take his family to live somewhere else and take his kids to go see Mickey Mouse. All he had to do was set off a bomb and open an emergency exit door to let all of the gas out. He had set the bomb and was questioning if he should do it because it might get tracked back to him. Greed won over and he set the bomb. The people he met with had made the bomb and were convincing him that they had set a time of ten minutes before it would go off. He thought that would be enough time to get out and go to the bathroom. Once there, he could claim to have been in the bathroom when the bomb exploded and he and his family would move and be safe. He set the bomb and hit the activate button. Either that was the fastest ten minutes of my life, or the people had lied to him. He was killed instantly along with five of the other people that he was working with. The people had told him that the bomb would go off in ten minutes and they had lied to him. The nuclear power plant was shut down. Some of the people were shredded with the bits of metal flying around the room and others died due to the gasses that were released into the air. He hadn't forgotten to make sure that the emergency door was open. So as the remaining people filled out, they noticed a bing stream of steam and gas coming from the building. Riv didn't even have time to think about his now, widowed wife, his children, and his children going to see Mickey Mouse.  

Alex Rider : Crocodile tears

Anthony Hrorwitz

11/30/11

25 min.

Page: 34-59

Strategy: The most interesting thing I read in my book today was when Alex Rider, a fourteen-year-old, was gambling with three other adults. Mr. McCain was the owner of the castle they were in and the host of a big party for New Years Eve. Mr. McCain had been so sure that he had won, that he skipped right over Alex and his cards. He had two Jacks in his hand and a third Jack was already laying on the table. Alex told him that he skipped over him and Mr. McCain said, ""Your cards?" McCain blinked. He had forgotten that Alex was even there. He glanced down at the table as if to reasure himself. Nothing could beat four jacks, not with only one ace showing on the table . . . could it? He relaxed. "Do forgive me, Alex," he said. "I should have let you show your cards first. But everyone here would love to see them. What have you got?" Alex waited a moment. He turned over the eight of hearts. And then a ten of hearts. There was a long silence as the truth sank in. Then the audience gasped. The seven of hearts, the nine of hearts, and the jack of hearts were already on the table, faceup. Put them together with Alex's cards and he had a straight flush . . . seven, eight, nine, ten, and jack of hearts. And in the rules of poker, a straight flush beast a four of a kind. Alex had won. "You can cash your chips with the croupier. I bet you must be the richest thirteen-year-old in Scotland right now." "Actually, I'm fourteen," Alex said. "And I don't want the money. You can give it all to First Aid."" First Aid is the charity that McCain had started and Alex wanted the money, but he wanted to be nice to his host and give it all to his charity. 

Alex Rider: Crocodile Tears 

Anthony Horowitz

12/1/11

23 min. 

Page: 60-80

Theme: Three thought on why the author choose this chapter title is that they are face with iminent death, the others had no idea as they sipped on their champaign, and because Edward Pleasure, Sabina's dad, had died, but Alex used both hands on Edwards chest and pressed hard over and over. On the thirteenth time, Edward coughed up water and wsa alive again. Alex, Sabina, and Edward were driving home from the New Years Eve party held by McCain when the car got out of controll and crashed into the lake. Alex and Sabina were okay, little shaken, but okay. Edward was unconcious and pinned against his seat by his air bag. They had mere minutes to get out or suffocate because once the water reaches the air vents they were flowing out of, the water will stop coming in. Alex broke the window, opende the door, got out, went across the roof, opened the driver's side door, popped the air bag, got Edward out, and swam to the surface. Sabina came up right after him and helped swim her dad to shore. Alex was thinking about how they needed to get help, and fast. The fireworks started going and Alex thought about something else. The next point is that the other guests of McCain were probably outside and watching the fireworks saying the usual ooh's and aah's. Yet they were to far away for Alex and Sabina to get to in time. Edward had been unconcious when Alex broke the window and had probably died on the way up. Alex broght him back to life and another man brought all three of them to a hospital as fast as he could, where the three were treated for hypothermia and shock.     

Alex Rider: Crocodile Tears 

Anthony Horowitz

11/2/11

27 min.

Page:81-109

Character: I see a lot of similarities wtih Jack, the house keeper and leagel gardian of Alex. She was concerned about Alex, Sabina, and Edward after Alex told her what had happened. She was upset and concerned that he went for a nice New Years Party and ended up being sixty feet below in a loch, which is also like a lake. I would have asked the same questions that she did. "How did it happen? What about the man that helped you?"I wold be curious to know exactly what happened and try to get every detail. I would have check him over to make sure he was okay though. Jack didn't do that. I might also have bought Alex better things than cloths, a hat, and a pair of fake cop sunglasses. I would have probably made Alex stay home the next day, but I don't know him like Jack does. I would have been way to protective and Jack isn't really doing anything but asking questions about him and the others.   



Maximum Ride: The Angel Experiment

Maximum Ride: The Angel Experiment 

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Maximum Ride:The Angel Experiment

James Patterson

11/6/11

20 min.

Page: 164-185

Character: ""Jerk," said Nudge." If I was a mutant freak like Max, I would have taken as much money from the guy's credit card too. Max, Fang, Iggy, Nudge, and Gazzy were hiding in some bushes when a car rolled up. The man started yelling some stuff outside of the window, "Veins practically popping out of his neck, the jerk leaned out his window and yelled a bunch of swear words, including a new one I tucked away in my brain for future use, if necessary." After a minute or two, a big, black truck pulled up very close to the man's car. When the window rolled down, the flock saw that it was Ari in the truck. They both drove off really fast and the guy left his card in the slot. They walked up to it and took as much money as they could in one time. The card then spit out for them and they ran off. I also would have hidden when the first car pulled up because I didn't know who was in it and what I looked like to them. I might have run off entirely when the first car pulled up though. Since I wouldn't have known who was in it, I would have run off so none of the other flock members would have been taken like Angel had. I would still be grieving over the loss and not knowing if she was already dead or if they were going to torture her first. I couldn't imagine losing someone that I have lived with for six years. We are alike when we think about things but not alike in reactions or emotions.

Maximum Ride:The Angel Experiment

James Patterson

11/7/11

20 min.

Pg: 186-209

Setting: Ari said, ""It's almost like you don't want to go back to School."". The "School" affect the characters in a good and bad way. The good way is that Max, Fang, and Nudge all find out that Angel is still alive. Max was driving a car through a corn feild to escape from some of the Erasers that had found them. They were just getting onto the road again when they slammed into a sedan. The air bags hit Max and broke her nose, the pasanger seat air bag hit Fang, but his seat belt was the thing that did the most damage to him. It left a mark on his neck. In the back seat, Nudge hit her forehead on the back of Fang's seat and had a bruise, Iggy said he felt like pudding that was in great pain, and Gazzy felt sick. The windows were being smashed by Erasers that were in the sudan and the Erasers popped open the doors. Max yelled at the others to run after she had been yanked out and was being forced to the ground. Fang and Nudge were also caught, but Iggy and Gazzy got out. An Eraser was firing some shots at them but they managed to get away without being shot. The other three were taken back to the "School" where they found both surprises. Angel was alive, and so was Jeb. Jeb had been the one who helped them escape from the "School" in the first place and had disappeared a few months ago. He had gone back to the school to do more tests on other people and that kind of thing. He was back to being the one that doesn't help them escape. Jeb looked Max straight in the eye when he said, ""Maximum Ride," said Jeb Batchelder. "Oh, I've missed you so much."


Maximum Ride:The Angel Experiment
James Patterson
11/8/11
20 min.
Pg: 210-236
Plot: The biggest conflicts of the section I read today are when Max got major headaches, like migranes only worse, and when Angel told them about how they were taken to the "School". Max was flying in the air, headed for New York, New York with her flock when she suddenly got a major headache and started falling through the sky. Fang caught her and they landed. That night, Angel told them how they went to the school. "Nudge, the doctors told your mom and dad that you . . . died. Iggy, your mom . . . died. Right after you were born. Fang, the doctors told your mom that you died, like Nudge. Your mom was a teenager and they didn't know who the father was, but they said you died. Me and Gazzy, our parents gave us to the school. They wanted to help. They gave us to the school for money. I didn't hear anything about you though Max. I'm really sorry." The next morning, the flock had just taken off and was heading off for the Big Apple. When Max was about ten feet off the ground, she got another headache. "Some unseen force shoved an unseen railroad spike through my skull. I cried out, falling, then smacking into the ground hard enough to knock my breath away. I curled up in a fragile ball of pain, holdign my head, feeling tears drip down my cheeks, trying not to scream. "Max?" Fang's gentle fingers touched my shoulder. "Is it like before?" I couldn't  even nod. It was all I could do to hold my head together so my brains wouldn't splatter all over my friends. A high, keening sound reached my ears. It was me!"

Maximum Ride:The Angel Experiment
James Patterson
11/9/11
20 min.
Pg: 291-316
Theme: The best part of the section I read today is when Max and the rest of the flock walked straight into a group of Erasers. The flock turned and pelted away, but one of the Erasers caught Max by her hair and yanked her back. She was flung over the sholder of the Eraser and taken away. They got pretty far when the Eraser just fell over, dead. Max hit her head so hard, she could see fire works. "My legs were pinned, and I frantically started kicking, scrambling from under him. He didn't move. had he knocked himself out? How? I scrabbled back into a trash can, snapped onto all fours, and stared at the Eraser. He was completely still, his eyes open and glossy. Blood trickeled out of his mouth, which had morphed halfway to a wolf's snout." Angel has been known to say something and change people's minds or make them do something against their will. She yelled something that she knew would kill him and that is why he fell over, dead. He was the seventh of a batch. The Erasers don't last very long either. He was the size of a full grown man and looked like a super model. He was super strong, and only five years old.

 

Maximum Ride: The Angel Experiment

Maximum Ride: The angel Experiment

"Do not put this book down. I'm dead serious- your life could depend on it. I'm risking everything by telling you- but you need to know."

(Page 1-42)

Character- Max and I are alike in some ways and different in others. We both have problems we are trying to run away from. We both have others supporting us and our lives. Her problem is that she is only fourteen, she is the oldest of a group of six kids that have wings(they were mixed with bird DNA), and are being chased by Erasers. Those kids are, Max(who is fourteen), Fang(who is fourteen, but two months younger than Max), Iggy(who is fourteen, six months younger than Max, and he is also bind, due to a failed experiment to make his eyesight even better than it was then), Nudge(who is eleven), Gazzy(who is nine and a brother to Angel. He is also known as the Gasman, for the smells he could let go of), and Angel( the smallest/youngest being only six years old). I have a problem with school and things of that sort. I don't have an entire family I have to take care of, and I sure as heck can't fly (I wish I could though. I think that would be fun and thrilling.). I also have a family that supports me. I don't have to make all of the decisions that she does and I am a very good cook. Max only has the six younger kids to lean on for support. She is not a good cook and she was created to have wings, unlike me. She and the others were created by the same man, Jeb, who was also the one that helped them escape from the lab that they called the "School". Probably because that is where all of the scientists learn new things about them and their behaviors.

(Page 43-77)

Setting-The setting affected the characters in the section that I read today because Angel has been taken from some Erasers, those are partially man and partially wolf. They were created as security gaurds and executers for the school. Jeb's seven year old son, Ari, has been turned into one of these creatures. While Max, Fang, and Nudge were flying, Max spotted a girl in need and went to help. When she did, she hit the tree guys that were going to beat up the one girl and told the one girl, Ella, to run. She hesitated for a moment and then ran. In that moment, two of the guys had gotten up and were telling her that she would regret doing that. Then, Max took off running and the lead guy pulled out a gun. He started fireing off some shots and one of them actually hit Max. She was grazzed on the top of her left sholder and her left wing. Her day was just rotten because after she was shot, she tripped on a twig, fell on her bad sholder, slid down a slopped cliff, and stopped in what she believed to be a patch of posion ivy. Had she not been in the sky or flying over that group of kids, she never would have gotten hurt to the point that she couldn't fly, she would be saving Angel faster, and Fang and Nudge would never have had to fly to the North most point of Lake Mead. 

(Page 78-113

Plot-The most exciting conflict I read today was when Gazzy and Iggy went to go set a trap for the Erasers. They built a bomb (cause the nine year old and the blind guy are great bomb builders), brought a black tarp, some oil, and some nails. They put the nails an untraveled road(except by the Erasers) and put the tarp over it. They put the oil on top of the tarp and went to an old, abandoned cabin that was falling apart. They waited there for the Erasers to come looking for them. When the Erasers finally came, they were ready. The first humvee that hit the tarp, went spinning out of controll and slammed into the trees. The other two crashed into eachother, but barley missed the tarp. Then, the Erasers walked off. The next thing Gazzy and Iggy knew, the Erasers wereknocking on the door and surrounding the cabin. ""On three." Once again, the Gasman wasn't sure if he'd heard Iggy or if he was imagining it. "One." The Gasman's toes clenched inside his sneakers. "Two." When Iggy shouted, "Three!" the Gasman leaped straight into the air, unfurling his wings with a huge whoosh. With a roar of anger, one Eraser grabbed the Gasman's foot and yanked. Above him, Iggy burst through the rotting roof cabin, into the sky. The Gasman broke free of the Eraser's grip. Then he was pushing through the shattered roof, tucking his wings in tight to get throught the hole. "Move, move, move!" Iggy yelled, flapping like crazy. Within seconds, they were a hundred yards away. BOOM! Only it was more like BA-BA-BOOOOOOM! The two boys recoiled from the blast, tumbling backward in the air from the shock wave. The Gasman righted himself, eyes wide, as a fireball ten yards in diameter rose from where the cabin had been. He was speechless. After the fireball from Big Boy disintegrated, the cabin burned brightly, its odd, rotted wood consumed as instantly as kindling. Flames reached for the sky, licking at the green trees nearby, snaking along the ground as brittle brown pine needles caught fire. "Well," said Iggy after a long while, "that takes care of them." The Gasman nodded feeling sick. One dark body had flown upward in the blast, falling back to earth as a glowing coal. The other Eraser had crawled a few feet away from the cabin, a burning silhouette that had collapsed, its outlines blurred by flame."  

(Page 113-142)

Theme- My favorite part of the section I read today was when Nudge and Fang were looking at someone who Nudge believed to be her mom. ""Looking for something, freaks? Guess you found it." There was no mistaking that beautiful, melodic Eraser laugh, right behind them. Nudge jackknifed to her feet. There were three of them, and they were already begining to morph. They started off, looking like male models, but then their freaky muzzles elongated, fangs erupted from their bloodred gums, ragged claws grew from their fingertips. "Ari," Fang said evenly. Nudge frowned and looked at the leader. Her eyes widened. "Ari!" she said. "You were just a little kid." He smiled, flexing his clawed hands. "And now I'm a great big grown-up Eraser," he said. He snapped his teeth together playfully, making strongclicking sounds. "And you're a little brown piglit. Yum." "What did they do to you?" Nudge askedquietly. "I'm sorry Ari." He frowned, his hairy brow lowering. "Save your pity for yourself. I'm exactly who I want to be. And I've got some news for you." He rolled up his sleeves to reveal heavily corded, muscled, hairy arms. "Your hideout in the mountians is nothing but ashes. Your pals keep having unfortunate accidents. You two are the last ones alive- and now we've got you." Nudge's brain reeled. Last two alive? The others were dead? Their house had burned down? Nudge looked over at Fang and saw his fists clench at his sides. "Pinwheel," he muttered out of the side of his mouth. Ari frowned, obviously wondering what pinwheel meant, his large, beautiful eyes narrowing. "Cholla first," Nudge muttered. She couldn't believe she was being so brave, almost like Fang. "Count of three," Fang said evenly. Which meant count of one. Ari leaned over, lightning fast, and cuffed Fang on the sholder. "Shut up!" "One," Fang said, regaining his balance, and Nudge instantly lunged forward, shoving the second Eraser in the chest as hard as she could. Taken off gaurd, he staggered backward, right into the sharp spines of a cholla cactus. Cursing, the Eraser waved his arms but landed smack on the top of its three-inch neddles, shrieking like a train wreck in the making. A lovely, musical train wreck." They started to beat fang up so Nudge grabbed a spray paint can and hit Ari right in the face with a stream of green spray paint. He screamed and fell back, scratching at his face. Nudge did the same to another Eraser before the can went empty, then threw the can that hit Ari right in the top of his head.

(Page 143-168)

Stratagy- A passage that reminded me of a song was: "It's okay Angel." This reminded me of a song from a movie I watched. Lemonade Mouth. The song is More Than a Band. This short sentence reminds me of this because Jeb is trying to tell Angel that she is safe and that everything was going to be okay. In the song, the band is singing to try to comfort the singer because her cat, the only thing left of her mom, died and they started to look at the clouds and one of them said that one cloud looked like a dad, so they started talking about their dads, and the singers dad was in jail. She hadn't written to him from embarrasment and speechlessness.