Hole

HOLE

SUMMARY

Camp Green Lake is a boys’ juvenile detention center in Texas. There is no lake there. The boys spend each day digging five-foot holes in the dried up lakebed. Stanley Yelnats, a boy who always seems to be in the wrong place at the wrong time, is sent there for stealing a pair of used sneakers that had belonged to a famous baseball player. The sneakers had actually fallen from an overpass and landed on top of Stanley’s head. Stanley believes his bad luck is because of a curse placed on his family after his great-great-grandfather, Elya Yelnats, stole a pig from a gypsy, Madame Zeroni.


When Elya Yelnats was fifteen he was in love with an empty headed girl. Madame Zeroni gave Elya a piglet to raise so that he could win the girl’s hand by gifting her father with a fatted pig. In return, Elya promised to carry Madame Zeroni up a mountain to drink “where the water runs uphill”. When the girl chooses not to marry Elya, he is so distraught that he catches a boat to America, forgetting his promise to Madame Zeroni. The Yelnats family has had bad luck ever since.
At Camp Green Lake Stanley is given the nickname “Caveman”, indicating that for the first time in his life, Stanley has some acceptance from a peer group. He grows stronger and tougher as he battles the harsh conditions at the camp, digging in the desert heat. He befriends a boy called Zero by agreeing to teach him how to read in exchange for help digging. This upsets the other boys and causes a fight. In the aftermath, Zero hits a counselor with a shovel and runs away into the desert. It is presumed that Zero will die out there and no one will care. His records are destroyed.
Deciding to help his friend, Stanley attempts to steal a water truck and go out after Zero. He drives the truck into a hole, gets out of the truck and runs away. He heads out across the desert toward a rock formation that looks like “God’s thumb,” the place where his grandfather, the first Stanley Yelnats, survived after being robbed by Kissin’ Kate Barlow.
One hundred ten years before, Green Lake was a beautiful place where Katherine Barlow taught school. She fell in love with Sam, the onion man, who sold onions as food and medicine in the town. Sam fixed up the schoolhouse for Katherine in exchange for jars of her famous spiced peaches. Because Sam was black and Katherine was white, when they were seen kissing, the townspeople were outraged. A stupid, arrogant man, Trout Walker, lead a riot and burned down the schoolhouse, then killed Sam. Grief stricken, Katherine became the outlaw, Kissin’ Kate Barlow. On the day Sam was killed, rain stopped falling on Green Lake forever. Years later, Trout Walker and his wife tried to force Kate to tell them where in the dried up lakebed she had buried her treasure. Kate refused and died from being bitten by the fatal yellow-spotted lizard before any treasure was found.
The Warden at Camp Green Lake is a descendant of Trout Walker. She tells people that the boys there dig holes to build character. In reality, she is continuing the search for Kate Barlow’s treasure. While digging one of his holes, Stanley finds a gold lipstick tube with the initials K.B. engraved on it, but he gives it to another boy to turn in to the Warden. The Warden has the boys dig frantically in the area where she believes the lipstick tube was buried. Only Stanley knows where it was really found.
Stanley continues to walk across the lake-bed and finds Zero under the remains of a boat. Zero survives by eating the remains of preserved peaches that had sunk with the boat. Stanley convinces Zero to head toward “God’s thumb” with him. Zero is weak and sick. They make it to the mountain, but Zero is too weak to climb so Stanley carries him up. They find wild onions and water that seems to have run uphill at the top of the rock formation.
After a few days the boys have regained their strength and decide to go back to the camp to try and dig up Kate Barlow’s treasure. Under cover of night, the boys return to the hole where Stanley had found the lipstick tube. Stanley digs and unearths a suitcase, just as the Warden arrives. In the light of flashlights, the boys see that they are covered with yellow-spotted lizards. They stay completely still until the sun rises and the lizards go down into the shade, off of the boys.
By then the State Attorney General and a lawyer hired by Stanley’s father arrive. The Warden tries to claim the suitcase as her own, but Zero, using his newly acquired reading skills, deciphers the name Stanley Yelnats on the side if the suitcase. The Attorney General and the lawyer take Stanley away. Stanley refuses to leave without Zero. There are no longer any records to keep him there, so Zero is released with Stanley.

It turns out that Zero’s real name is Hector Zeroni. He is the great-great-great-grandson of Madame Zeroni, the gypsy that had cursed Stanley’s great-great-grandfather. By carrying Zero up the mountain, Stanley had broken the curse.

Reflect - Kids who are bullied will always be the ones in trouble. Bullying is common not only to children but everywhere. Bullying is all around us. We might not see or realize it but it will always be there. People gets bullied by things they are which they didn't choose. 

Connect -  Life is unfair and will always be unfair. I get bullied too. Not at school but inside our home. They say I'm a weakling. well it's true because i get sick easily. It used to hurt me as a child but now that I've grown up i doesn't hurt anymore

Question - The parents of the children brought to the desert seems not to care about their children. Why did they call the desert Camp Green Lake when in fact the color green is not visible there.

Predict - I predicted Stanley Yelnats was a weird name. And yes it is. When you read Yelnats starting at the end it is still Stanley. I also predicted Stanley can go out the Camp.

The Ghost of Blackwood Hall

The Ghost of Blackwood Hall

SUMMARY

Nancy and friends are back in another mystery. This time the super sleuth is asked by a woman named Mrs. Putney to help recover her stolen jewelry. Nancy searches from River Heights to New Orleans in her quest to solve this mystery. But her sleuthing skills are put to the test because Mrs. Putney acts really weird and these other two girls are being taken advantage of by so-called spirits who are scamming them for their money. This mystery is new to me. I cannot recall reading this when I was younger. There is some stuff in here that made me laugh because some of these people were real suckers but then I guess a good scam artist can make anyone believe they are legit.

The story starts off with a jeweler in River Heights bringing Mrs’ Putney to Nancy because she is a girl. A girl you say? Why yes. You see, Mrs. Putney has been told by the so-called “spirit” of her late husband to bury her jewels in a clearing in the woods away from her house and to never tell any man or woman what she had done. But she can tell Nancy because Nancy is a girl. Oh boy. When I read that cuckoo bells started ringing in my head. But Nancy is much more polite then I am and decide to look into the case, because Mrs. Putney went back to the clearing, dug up her jewels, took them to the jeweler and found out they had been replaced by fake ones.

This starts Nancy off onto a journey that leads her to New Orleans to find a thief, and back to River Heights and a nearby “haunted” house. There are secret rooms, glowing “ghosts”, people in trances, and more.

This story was not so enjoyable. I found the premise of the older woman needing to seek out a girl to solve a mystery because she could not speak to a man or woman just plain goofy. This was an older woman who should have had more common sense. Then again I know there are people who get suckered into stuff everyday, so maybe I can forgive that one. But the story was just bland. I wish they had focused more of the mystery on the house itself, perhaps coming up with a plot specific to this particular house. I don’t recommend this revised version. I have not read the original, but I have a feeling that I am not in for much difference in the story. I believe that another blogger noted that as the Nancy Drew books went up in number they became less interesting and more predictable. I really want to read a good Nancy Drew story, but the past few I have read have just been duds for me. I cannot even get the want to post about them, I found them interesting.

Reflect – I felt it was coward of the swindlers to manipulate the fragile victims like Mrs. Putney and Lola White. It’s sad to know that there are people like those characters in this book really existing in this world. Those people are just wasting their talents; simply using it to abuse and jinx innocent people. But in the other side, I am grateful to know that even there are many cheats co-existing with us, they are people, like Nancy Drew, who is obliging; ready to serve, to help ones out in times of trouble. I venerate Nancy Drew’s approach in this book. She never lose hope to solve the queer case even if it threatened her own life.

Connect – Back when I was young, I lost my ring. I was anxious. That ring has a sentimental value, thus my father gave it to me as a birth day present. Actually I’m not the one who lost it. It was stolen away. I understand Mrs. Putney’s feelings when her husband’s precious ring was filched. She was eager (as I was) to catch up the thief.

Question – I wonder why, there any people who are stupid enough to believe in such absurd séances saying that they could speak to the victims’ love-ones. It’s really obvious that was only a trick.

Predict – I think the victims of the Three Branch Ranch got their pieces. Hope they learn their lessons-not to trust easily a stranger. And to our heroine, Nancy Drew, I expect there are lots of adventures and cases are coming to her.

THROUGH THE HIDDEN DOOR

SUMMARY

Poor Barney Penniman is never going to achieve greatness. To hear his father tell it, greatness is all about going to the Right School in the Right part of the country, graduating with Honors and going on to do what you want, and the world is your oyster. Unfortunately, oysters are kind of like gobs of snot to Barney, and there's a lot of doing what other people want before you ever get to do as you please. At thirteen, Barney fears a future of ordinariness, so he falls in with his father's plan, leaving his life in the West, and going back East for polish and class, as once was the tradition. Unfortunately, along with polish, Barney is gaining tarnish. He fears being diliked, being tormented about his lisp, being the bottom of the heap and being alone, so once he's at Winchester, where old money and snobbery prevail, he does what others do - which is to side with the bullies and do what it takes to stay off the receiving end of their pranks.

While Barney has a good heart, he's occasionally really dense. What it means to be a friend, and what it means to be a total TOOL are confused concepts for him. He's one big, sweaty, anxious ball of reaction, instead of action. Tell him to eat a random mushroom in the woods - he'll do it, and then have to go to the ER to have his stomach pumped. Bullied into a "study" session the next test, he not only gives away his notes, but teaches his so-called friends to write the answers on the insoles of their shoes. But, when his so-called friends sadistically attack a helpless dog, Barney can't keep silent. The headmaster finds out, and it's over: Barney can either save himself, or everyone else. He tries to take the blame for what he hasn't done, knowing what's coming to him, but a wise headmaster knows his students. To his horror, he tells the truth - and that's it, game over. The life of a snitch at Winchester is one big bruise.

Meanwhile, there's Snowy Cobb. He's only a sixth-grader, and without his coke-bottle thick glasses, he's legally blind. He's secretive, weird, and has skulls all over the bookshelves in his room. Barney isn't inclined to seek him out, but he's the only one Barney feels safe with, secreted in the back of the library. It turns out that Snowy knows things - more than anyone suspects. He's willing to share what he knows of a secret, magical place, if Barney is willing to be brave, get cold, filthy, and blindfolded... and keep his mouth shut. So far, Barney's not batting a thousand with choice of friends.

Reflect – I like the character of Mr. Finney. Even though everyone belittled and disdained Barney, he still believes in him in full hope. I think this really helps Barney, a lot, to build his character. Mr. Finney’s presence makes Barney confides himself; to believe there is always chance to change – for the better and it is never too late. Even if Mr. Finney is not already the headmaster of Winchester Boys School because of the “Collie incidence”, he still cares to Barney. He acted as a second father not only to Barney but also the latter.

Connect – Back to my Elementary days, my family move place to place. As a result of it, I do not have permanent school. It was hard for a young girl to adapt new environment – dwelling to strangers…again. Another one, if you cannot speak neither understand what they are talking about. You just say “yes” to everything what they say, either it’s good or bad. And it comes a time, that you rather befriended anyone – even the bullies rather to be alone…again. It was really an awkward experience.

Question – I wonder that place like Winchester Boys School stood, has not developed, yet it was one of the best school in this story. It just weird that researchers and anthropologists never knew the ancient relics that was quite dangerous rest in the midst of that area. Supposedly, the authority should check first the area before building that school. Another one, I am curious does it possible to have that kind of weird tribe exist million years ago.

Predict – I think Snowy Cobb (with his new partner) will catch on what’s those “stuffs” are. And still he would not share his discoveries to anyone even to his dog. Also, when he graduated in Winchester, he would go through research about his discoveries.

Book Review: The Little Prince

The Little Prince

I. Summary

In the first part of the novel, a man, who is the narrator, is disappointed with the world of adults because they have no imagination and have all the wrong priorities. He’s had no one he could really talk to, and has led a pretty lonely life.

And viola! A kid who is sitting in the sandy floor of the hot dessert he found. The narrator meets this little guy in the Sahara, far, far away from all human habitation. The narrator, who is a pilot, has had an accident with his plane and has been forced to land in the desert. The little prince, he discovers, is visiting from another planet. The two immediately hit it off and become good friends over the course of a week.

So, the little prince is prince of what, anyway? We learn that he lives on an asteroid named B-612, which is as big as a house. On it, there are three tiny volcanoes that come up to his knees: two are active, and he uses them to warm his breakfast; one is extinct, and he uses it as a footstool. And most importantly, on his planet is a flower whom he loves.

This flower is ill-tempered and vain, and her all-round bad behavior drives the prince away. But on the day of his departure, she admits she loves him and regrets that she never expressed it before. In any case, the prince has decided to leave, so leave he does, though the whole situation has that icky-sickly sheen of a bad break up.

The prince visits several tiny asteroids/ planets, which are inhabited by all sorts of strange characters—a king, a conceited man, a merchant, and so on—who are selfish and petty and successfully convince the little prince that adults are weird. Finally, he makes his way to Earth where he meets a wise fox who teaches him about trust and friendship. The fox’s lessons help the prince realize that he loves his flower, and that she is unique and special because of the relationship they share.

When he meets the narrator, the prince recounts his adventures to him and the narrator gets to share in the truths on life and love that the little guy has picked up along the way. After eight days in the desert, the narrator is out of water and the plane engine is starting to look unfixable. He and the little prince trek in the desert looking for a well and miraculously find one; also, the engine makes a speedy and surprising recovery.

So, all’s well that ends well, right? Hold onto your pants. We’re not done yet.

The little prince wants to return home to his tiny planet and his beloved flower. The way this is done, apparently, is to get bitten by a poisonous desert snake. This method sounds dubious to the narrator, but the prince is all about it. The snake bites the prince, who then collapses and disappears.

The book ends six years after the narrator met the prince. Of course, the narrator still misses his friend. So he wants us to keep looking for the prince, just like he is, and he asks us to inform him immediately if we ever spot the little guy.

II. Reflect –    It is funny to think of when we were kids, we did everything we  can just to let our emotions get through; crying, shouting, throwing tantrums and even acting out. But now that we have finally grown up and mastered the skill of speaking, why does it is hard for us to say or express how we really feel. This is what I have realized by reading this book. Grown-ups are really weird. We tend to tongue-tied ourselves thinking it is the best way to end up things-but it is a fallacy. We are creating our own advance presumptions, consequently, we are scare to know what the truth is. We cannot even decipher the things that are obviously IMPORTANT, unless it is too late.

Connect – like the Little Prince, we share the same emotional estate; leaving the one whom you treasured. The month of February is said to be the Love Month, but I guess it is not. By this root, I have realized two things I should always embedded in my mind for now on; we could not say what will be the future whatever we try to avoid things to mess up; and do not expect things in optimistic deem with, nothing more nothing less. In this constant bizarre world, the word “forever” does not exist at all. Maybe, this word was formulated by someone who was daydreaming and afraid of reality. However, I believe that things happened for certain a reason.

Question – I wonder where would be the Little Prince now. Is he still roaming around our planet or rather on other planets? or in other dimension or other universe? Is he would visit someday his earthly being friend? By chance, if his earthly being friend will meet their paces again, I guess this is fate for them to reconcile. Another thing, why did the Little Prince bestow “attachment” to his earthly friend when he was planning to leave him in the first place? Did he do it for the sake of his friend or he did it for his selfish justification?

Predict – I assume, the next time the Little Prince will love again (as he did to the Rose), he will love that one like it’s his first love, thus than to play safe with it. Taking up risk is not bad at all; it is not a sign of ignorance but rather is a symbol of a strong person who was challenged and trained by time.