Somewhere in the Darkness

Jimmy little, a fourteen-year-old boy, and his estranged father, Crab, are reunited after nine years. Crab, who is terminally ill from a kidney ailment, has escaped from prison to share the truth of his past and to re-establish a relationship with his son.
Jimmy embarks on a physical and psychological journey as he and his father explore their pasts. Because his mother died when he was a baby and his father has been in prison, Jimmy never had the opportunity to learn about the past until being reunited with his father. Jimmy is initially reluctant to develop a relationship with Crab, but eventually opens his heart and mind and learns about himself and his father. Although Jimmy recognizes that Crab is unable to depart from his illegal ways, he comes to believe that he was falsely accused and did not kill anyone. When Jimmy's father revisits an ex-partner-in-crime, he is betrayed again, captured by the police, and dies cuffed to his hospital bed with Jimmy at his side. Jimmy comes to realize in life mistakes are made but sometimes can be understood and forgiven.


Jimmy is Crab's son who is a fourteen year old African american. He is not conscience and doesn't care about anything. He is a very unhappy kid. Crab is Jimmy's father who is dying and is always in pain. He acts very strange but wants to have a relationship with his estranged son Jimmy.

I used visulization and dertimining the importance when reading this book.

The Author is Walter Dean Myers. Some other books he wrote include Scorpions, Monster, The Outside Shot, Hoops and Slam.

Slam

On the basketball court 17 year old Greg "Slam" Harris is in control. His disciplined body does what he tells it, the ball is an extension of his arms and his powerful legs allow him to elevate above the ground. Off the court however his life is a mess. His grandmother is in the hospital on her death bed, his grades are horrible, and his best friend is possibly dealing crack. This is what Slam is facing in life. He wants to go to college then continue on to play for the NBA. Though his grades may prevent him from doing that. So, he gets help from Mtisha, who Slam loves, to tutor him in math so he can stay eligible. Slam's coach feels Slam is a showboat and does not play him. Slam befriends the old basketball coach at Latimer who not only gives him basketball tips but also gives him tips on life.

Slam is a 17 year old African American who is great at basketball. MTisha is slam's tutor who slam loves.

The reading strategies I used was visualization and determining the importance.

This book was written by Waltern Dean Myers. Other books he wrote were Somewhere in the Darkness, Hoops and The Outside Shot.

Darkness Before Dawn

In her senior year of high school, Keisha Montgomery, was still distraught by the suicide of her ex-boyfriend, Andy Jackson. Keisha was having a difficult time moving on with her life until she meets twenty three year old, Jonathan Hathaway, the new track coach and principal’s son.
Jonathan is tall, dark and handsome and has his golden eyes set on Keisha Montgomery. Keisha is swept off her feet by Jonathan and is elated to have someone treat her like a woman, not a girl. Jonathan is the answer to Keisha’s dreams and a cure to all her nightmares.
Unexpectedly, this enthralling relationship takes a turn for the worst, and Keisha is once again thrust into darkness. She is physically and mentally abused by Jonathan and eventually finds her way out.
Keisha struggles to put her life back in perspective and is able to find her way back into the light.

Keisha is a African American girl who wants to someday be a track star. In her life many terrible things has happened to her but she has let them go and get on with her life. Jonathan is principle Hathaway's son who is a good looking young man. He has abused many people in his life and is not proud of it at all.

I used the technique of visualization and Determining the importance of the story.

This book was written by Sharon M. Draper the award winning author of Tears of a Tiger and Forged by Fire.

Scorpions

This story is all about a character named Jamal Hicks who is twelve years old. Jamal is having a difficult time with his family, his teachers and even the kids at school. He is feeling pressure to take over the leadership of the Scorpions gang from his older brother Randy who is in prison. Although his mother, sister and best friend Tito are against it. Jamal’s brother was sentenced to six years in prison for shooting someone in a delicatessen holdup.Crazy Mack, who is Randy’s best friend, has an idiotic idea. He wants Jamal to take control of the Scorpions and run crack. Jamal now becomes the new leader of the Scorpions. His best friend Tito also decides to join the gang. The disrespect from the Scorpions reached a plateau for Jamal when the members of the gang refused to respect him because he was only twelve years old and everyone else was fifteen or older.One evening the Scorpion gang members Indian and Angel approached Jamal. A fight broke out amongst them and Jamal was badly beaten. Jamal noticed a knife sticking out from Indians pocket and thought he was going to be stabbed. All of a sudden, there were sounds of multiple gun shots and Indian and Angel fell to the ground. Jamal realized his best friend Tito was again standing by his side and was the one who pulled the trigger. Shortly thereafter, Crazy Mack came walking by and shot and killed Angel. After this incident, Jamal and Tito decided to leave the gang for good. In his effort to escape the law, Tito became a fugitive and is now living somewhere in Puerto Rico. Jamal is still living in Harlem with his family and Crazy Mack became the new leader of the Scorpions.I liked this book because I love the way Walter Dean Myers writes. There is always a lot of action, suspense and detail.

Fat Kid Rules the World

Troy Billings is a seventeen years old, 300 pound high-schooler. He is miserable and has no friends. While on the verge of suicide, he meets up with a emaciated, semi-homeless, high school teen dropout guitar genius named Curt MacCrae. Curt forms a new band in which Troy agrees to be the drummer. This would mark the first interest for Troy since the death of his mother. He was skinny before his mother died, now he is fat and depressed with no end in sight. Though Troys father was not fond of Curt, he supported his son's desire to learn to play the drums and join the punk rock group. Troys vision is only through his weight and sees himself as a fat failure. Curts enthusiasm and confidence becomes contagious and soon Troy is believing in himself. With the help of each other, Curt and Troy were able to rescue themselves from isolation.I liked this book because the language was powerful and the results were positive.This book was written by K.L Going

Petey

This book is about a man named Petey who was diagnosed with cerebral palsy. As a baby his parents gave him up to a mental facility were he would spend the rest of his life. One day a Mexican man named Esteban had been interviewed for a job at the infants ward in Warm Springs Insane Asylum. He had become a dear friend of Petey, the only friend he ever had. Esteban asked the nurse what is wrong with Petey. She told him he is an idiot which means he cant think. One day at the end of his shift, Esteban gave Petey a piece of chocolate. Esteban instructed Petey to nod his head if he wanted the piece of chocolate. At first Petey did not respond, until a week later. Much to Esteban's surprise, he began nodding his head for the chocolate. He rewarded him with a whole chocolate bar, a few days later Esteban was fired for sticking up for Petey. One week later the ward had found a retarded kid living on the streets named Calvin. They brought him to the facility and he became Petey's best friend forever. Another dear friend of Petey who had worked at the facility was Joe. Joe cared for Petey and Calvin like his own sons. he played with them and brought happiness to their lives. The best gift they received was two plastic guns from Joe for Christmas. They pretended to be cowboys. A few months later Joe worked his final shift at the ward, he moved away for better life Petey and Calvin were devastated. When Petey and Calvin turned twelve years old they were moved to the men's ward, they were always made fun of for acting so immature. Petey made a new friend Cassie who worked there as well. She was beautiful. When her husband got out of the war she moved back to New York. Petey was devastated once again. Twenty years later when Petey was fifty, someone named Owen started to work at the men's ward he gave Petey's life back again. After five years, he got too old for the job and left Petey. Unfortunately Calvin, his best friend, was transferred to another facility and Petey was going to be moved into a nursing home once again.I liked this book because it described a persons life with cerebral palsy in detail.I used the techniques of visualization and I was able to determine the importance.This book was written by Ben Mikaelson.

Heat

The book Heat is about an all star pitcher named Michael Arroyo who is twelve years old and who defected from Cuba with his father and older brother Carlos. They live in the South Bronx in the shadows of Yankee stadium. Michael's dream is to pitch his team to the Little League World Series. His father suddenly dies, and he and Carlos are trying to keep it a secret until Carlos turns eighteen and can legally take custody of Michael. Problems begin to arise for Michael. Rival coaches and jealous players can't believe Michael could be this good and be only twelve years old. Until Michael can prove his age with a birth certificate that is in his native home Cuba, he is suspended from playing baseball. If the people from social services find out his secret he will be separated from his brother Carlos the only family he has. In the end, Michael overcame the obstacles and was able to play in the final game of the playoffs which lead his team to the championship game.
Michael Arroyo is a talented young pitcher who is twelve years old. He is a Cuban immigrant who has faced many difficult challenges in life. He works very hard to develop his pitching skills. I admired Michael's determination and courage to never give up on his dream. I predict that Michael will become an all star pitcher in the Major Leagues. Manny, who is Michael's best friend, is the catcher on his team. He is very loyal, responsible, and helpful to Michael with the challenges Michael had to face.
This book appealed to me because I love the game of baseball. The characters in the book were an inspiration to me.
The reading strategy I used most when reading this book was making connections and visualizing.
The author of Heat is Mike Lupica. The only other book that I am aware of that Mike Lupica wrote is Travel Team, which I can't wait to read. The author used alot of detail in the book. It was an easy read to visualize and understand.