Instructions for Grades 4-8:
1) Read at least 5 books this summer
2) Respond to 2 questions for each book. Responses must be a minimum 5 sentences.
3) Respond to at least 5 other peoples responses. Responses to other people must be at least 3 sentences.
Questions for Summer Reading Blog
- Choose a character that you respect or admire and explain why. Which character trait(s) would you like to develop in yourself?
- Use as much detail as possible to describe the setting of your book. Explain how the setting is essential to the story. How would the story change in a different setting?
- Compare / Contrast yourself to a character in your book. OR Compare / Contrast a character in your book to a character in a book you have read before.
- Would you recommend this book to someone else? If so, who and why? What kind of reader would enjoy this book?
- Describe how a character in your book has changed over time. Include examples and events from the beginning, middle, and end to explain.
- Pretend that you are the main character’s best friend. You are the only person that he/she can confide in. What advice would you give to a character in your book? Give examples from the book to explain why this advice is important.
Sample response and student conversation for question 1:
- Choose a character that you respect or admire and explain why. Which character trait(s) would you like to develop in yourself?
Student A:
The book I read was Wonder, by R.J. Palacio. A character in the book that I admire is Auggie Pullman. Auggie was born with a facial deformity and was homeschooled for most of his life. In 5th grade, Auggie is started regular school for the first time. Although he looks different, he is smart, funny and kind. I admire Auggie because he always pushes forward, even when things are tough. He is strong, even when kids are making fun of him. I would love to be as strong and courageous as Auggie. I would like to develop these qualities because these qualities could help me in any tough situation.
Student B:
I, also, read Wonder. Auggie is my favorite character, too, Student A. I agree with you that Auggie is strong and courageous. I do not have any physical challenges like Auggie. but when I read the book, I felt that in real life I would want to be his friend. I really like his personality and the way he looks at life. I admire him because he does not let what other people say about him get him down. He tries hard to make people see that he is a good person on the inside. I feel that I can learn a lot from these qualities.
Student C:
I haven’t read Wonder, but I read another book that had a character who was strong and courageous like Auggie. I read The Tale of Despereaux by Kate DiCamillo. In this book, Despereaux Tilling is a mouse who loves music and a princess named Pea. Despereaux was strong and courageous when he was fighting rats in a dungeon to save the princess. He had to follow the red thread to get to the princess. He was also courageous when he had to go tell the king that his daughter was being held in the dungeon. He also had to face an angry chef with a knife. I would like to be as courageous as Despereaux because if I had courage, I would not be afraid to face problems that come up in life.
gsa summer book club 
The book that I read was book 1 in the Fablehaven series by Brandon Mull. This book is one of the best fantasies that I’ve read and can recommend to many readers out there looking for a book with adventure, mystery, action, magic and more. This book would also best fit readers that are eager to be surprised and go into a world of mystery and adventure with a bit of sadness as well. I recommend this book to those people because it truly isn’t a book for people that like to read history books and other non-fictional stories. I felt like I learned a lot from the story as well not just the fictional side of the story but the learning side of it as well. I learned to always think through a problem and not rush in blind, not knowing what your dealing with. As I said before everybody with a fictional taste would love this book and should read it.
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what is the book called? You only say its book 1 in the series.
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The second book that I read was book 2 in the Fablehaven series (Rise of the evening star) by Brandon Mull. This book is the second in the series and is amazing as the first. In this book Seth and Kendra are in Grave danger. Seth is on the menu by a GIANT, consuming, evil frog that Seth accidentally fed and awakened. The story continues and the family is betrayed yet again by their own friends. But not to fear, Seth and Kendra are both ready to face the dangers of the mysterious magical world that which their biggest problem. There was this character in this book that overtime, changed dramatically. At first, in the beginning of the story she was a friend to the family and helped Seth and Kendra with certain things. Then, she became very suspicious and liked to intervene with private business, and finally she betrayed everybody she knew and got put in the worst prison of all which made her realize that she is being commanded by the wrong person and then becomes a ally to the family again. This characters name was Vanessa and she was once the ally, but actually was the enemy and is now again the ally. If the setting of the story was something else than it is now, the would not fit at all. The setting of this story takes place in Fablehaven, one of the five most guarded sanctuaries for magical creatures and for the magical artifact. It is mostly forests with hills and swamps. If it wasn’t that… then the story wouldn’t have the same items and the same areas as it does now. The characters wouldn’t be able to truly emphasize the point in another area of how truly heroic or desperate or happy they are as they would in this setting.
This series is still amazing me and I am still enjoying it very much. If you by any chance happen to cross this series I would undoubtedly read it if i were you.
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i am reading a book that its called dairy of the wimpy kid the 3 book and i have not read it and i am exited to know what its going to be about and i want to know what the setting its going to be about and i want to know its it going to be fun or boring for me but i just have to read about to find out
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The third book that I read is the third book in the Fablehaven series called “Grip of the Shadow Plague.” In this book Fablehaven is over run by a mysterious plague that turns every light creature into a dark one. Seth discovers the problem early from a demon named Graulas, but the infectious disease spreads, it becomes clear that the preserve will not hold up. In the need of help the Sorensons question where to turn too but in the end, they get help from a trusted old/dead partner called Patton Burgess who traveled back in time by the help of Seth. One of the characters that I admired in this book was Kendra. Ever since she became a beacon of hope from the fairy queen she has shown her courage and strenght to abolish the darkness. In this book she took up the stance of being the lead charge against the plague and to abolish the evil dryad Ephira and abolished Fablehaven from darkness. Seth who was the shadow charmer also helped by giving Kendra strength and putting a charm on her from fear of Ephira. Some characteristics that I would like to have from Kendra is patience because when she had to wait for the battle to start she held her ground and waited for orders from Patton. If that was me I couldn’t have waited and just have charged in their to my death. If I was Seth’s best friend and had to give him advice to help him out in the story I would have said to him that he should have taken Kendra’s hand and given her the charm from the beginning so she could have healed all of the dark creatures immediately instead of be paralyzed and have to wait for Seth to come and give her the charm later. This would have helped because it would have given Kendra more time to heal all of the dark creatures in that area so they could attack Ephira. This book was very good and I hope the next one will be to.
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The fourth book that I read is book four in the Fablehaven series called “Secrets of the Dragon Sanctuary.” This book was about how Kendra, Seth and other members of their team go into a dragon sanctuary to retrieve a key that will lead them to a third artifact but what they don’t know is that they are bringing one of the most evil and powerful dragons ever in disguise as a human being.
I would recommend this book to many people that like fiction but with a twist of mystery and adventure. I would especially recommend this book to Brendan because from what I know he likes to read adventure books with action and mystery like the series of the “Dragon Within.” I would recommend him to read the first book first and continue from there.
One character in this book can compare very well to another in my earlier readings. Seth in this book can compare well to Tom in “The Seventh Son of the Seventh Son” series. They both have the abilities of darkness, Seth as a shadow charmer and Tom as a seventh son that took to be a spook. They are both outgoing and are always very curious. Both take risks and dangers that some would not even dare take and are both very courage’s. If both were to meet up one day, then a friendship would be created that would never be broken.
This story has been very great and has really got me into the series so far. The last book is the fifth book which I will finish reading shortly and so far the adventure has not ended yet.
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The fifth book that I read was from the fablehaven series called “Keys to the Demon Prison.” This book is the final book in the series of fablehaven and the author also concluded that their wont be any more fablehaven series’s This last book is about how the Sphinx finally succeed in opening the demon prince but instead of him who opened it, one of the lesser demon princes opened it and unleashed terror on the world. Seth as always was risking his life again to go steal a sword that would power him to defeat Graulas. Once he did, the most fearsome Demon came out and ushered a challenge to all. He was the Demon king. Kendra took the sword Seth stole and unleashed her own devastating power; light. Once Kendra defeated the Demon King all of the lesser demons were tricked and trapped . The day was saved and all was well.
If I was Kendra’s best friend and had to give her advice on what to do, I would have said to her that she needed to take Seth’s sword before the demons arrived and charged into battle with everybody else because with her and the sword working as a team, not even the Demon King could’ve stopped her. This also would’ve worked with Seth but he didn’t have the right amount of energy as Kendra and couldn’t emit such a powerful aura of light or for him dark.
The setting of this book was on a island. It was always sunny there no matter what, and because of that the good team with Kendra and Seth had a easier time destroying the demons. The island was in the middle of nowhere in the ocean but you couldn’t describe the bountifulness of the place as the author explained it; It has a huge rocky slope with the water going out and it also has many tress in the side view of the beach were when the sun was setting down, it looked magical. Without the island and the other setting aspects, the story line would’ve not fit well and it would’ve not been as well of a fight as it originated in that island.
If you want advice, well I got some for you. Read this series. You will embark on a mystical journey that will take you places you’ve never been to. And read the other books of Brandon Mull, he is a good author.
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