The boy who harnessed the wind #3

Titele: The boy who harnessed the wind
Author: William Kamkwamba
Page: 213/425
The conflict of this book is that the village of William Kamkwamba was starving. There was no enough fodd  because of the government sells the crops that village harvest. People was like walking dead Willima can see their ribs ro easily. William's family has some food to eat for one day. His father decided to eat one meal in one day at night. Some people asked his dad to help to fight against the government and sometimes at night, people asked them for the fodd and and answer is NO. I think they are going to solve the problem by William's dad helping the people against the government. 

Candy Freak

Andrej Novakovic
25/11/13
Ms.Nelson
7B



          So far I have read 176/261 pages.

          The Candy Freak is about a lot of different things but most about the connections between food and memory. There is no exact conflict in my book.

Anne Frenk

Anne Frank

Pg: 350

author: Anne Frank.

In my book the main character faces the challenge of war. Anne and her family go hiding in the annex.Other Jews come to hide in the annex too. One of the challenges Anne has is to face is the problem that her father doesn't like Anne talking to Peter who is one of her friends that is hiding with them. 

Edith's story #4

This is the 4th post on Edith's story by Edith Velmans and I have finished the book (238/238).

Edith encounters a few obstacles.

   1. Holland in occupied by the Germans and Jews are losing their rights.
 This is an obstacle because Edith losses the right to do the things she loves. These include rowing and sailing.

   2. Edith has to go into hiding with her brother.

  This is an obstacle because it is forbidden and the family who is helping and the relatives of these in hiding may get punished. It is also hard for Edith to leave everyone she knows and loves behind. 

   3. Edith has to get used to her new identity.

 This is hard for Edith because she was used to being able to do what she liked but now she is a slave almost.

   4. Edith has to get over the fact that most of her family is dead or dying.\

  How can somebody start a new life when all their family is dead, their house is burned an all their belongings are lost? 

   1. Although Edith is restricted to many things she tries to make a life with the things she has.

   2. She agrees because she knows that is what her parents what and they would do anything to save her. This way she is helping then fulfill their task. 

   3. Edith has no connections to the outside world. The only things that keep her going are the letters that she receives from her family. And maybe the small hope of freedom.

   4. Edith remembered what her parents told her and held her head high and tried to forget about the past.

Quote:

"Although I sometimes found it hard to get through the day, I would not allow myself to be sad. It was a new world, and I knew what was required of me - to see the sunny side, to make the best of things; to turn over a new leaf"(Velmans 233)

I don't think I can apply these experiences into my life yet. Maybe if there is another world war I could use this knowledge but so far I can't.

Anne Frank

Diary of a young Girl

I have 10 pages left to the end of the book.

            The book Anne Frank has a big problem. Nazis are taking over and killing all of the Jewish people. Anne and her family have to leave their homes and go into hiding. They are hiding in an old annex that is a pretty small space for eight people.The obstacle that Anne is having to deal with is that she has to leave her friend and move to the Annex. It is really hard saying goodbye to people that you love, not knowing if you will ever come back and stay alive. This is an obstacle that goes with the problem when they have to leave. Anne loves her father and knows how much he work and takes care of the family. Anne wants to do everything for her father and help him as much as possible.When her father tells her to stop seeing Peter, that also lives in the annex, and is the son of their friends, Anne doesn't like that, but has to do it for her father. Her father is very strict about she being a friend or having any relations to boys. Anne had to deal with this problem and listen to her father. The way that he got and felt a little bit better is when she wrote everything in her diary. his helped here a lot.

Nothing to Envy by Barbara Demick

Title: Nothing to Envy
Author: Barbara Demick
Pages: 130/315

As famine, disease, and tragedy descends over North Korea, our protagonists find themselves trapped in what they were always taught was a perfect society. Electricity is cut. Water is cut. Food rations disappear. Paychecks disappear. Factory workers are told to go home since there is no work for them anyway. The death of "The Great Marshall" (Demick 91) leaves Jun-sang doubting his identity as a normal Korean citizen and Mrs Song, the true believer, questioning her beliefs. Floods and starvation ravage the country. Mi-ran, now a young kindergarten teacher, watches helplessly as her students die of hunger. Over the course of 3 years, the number of students in kindergarten drops from 50 to 15. Dr Kim nurses the victims of the typhoid epidemic and famine knowing there is nothing she can do to help them since the hospital no longer has water, anti-biotics, food, or heat. IVs are substituted with beer bottles that patients have to bring in themselves. Meanwhile, Dr Kim struggles to deal with the suicide of her father, her divorce, and the lost custody of her own child.

Chinese Cinderella #4

The book I am reading is Chinese Cinderella, written by Adeline Yen Mah (馬嚴君玲). This book contains 205 pages and I finished reading it this week. 

To anyone reading this blog post:

I am very sorry if I made mistakes. I didn't have time to check over my blog post.

These are the places Adeline got educated at and I will write the obstacles she has faced:

BEGINNING

• St Joseph's (Tianjin, China)

-She went to St. Joseph's Primary School in kindergarten. 

RISING ACTION

• Shen Xin (Shanghai,China)

-Moved to Shanghai after her grandmother died and went to Shen Xin Primary School.

-In school, Adeline got elected as class president. 

-Her friends didn't know that Adeline is forbidden to go to visit them because of her stepmother, Niang.

-When Adeline got elected as president, her friends followed her home (without Adeline knowing) and surprised Adeline by bringing gifts and congratulating her.

-Niang got so ANGRY and thought that Adeline was the one who invited her friends over. Niang slaps her and made her tell her friends to go home. 

-Adeline's father made her open the presents and throw them away. 

• St. Joseph's (Tianjin, China) 

-Her parents sent her to Tianjin and went to St Joseph's again but to a boarding school because they thought that her Aunt Baba was a bad influence on her. 

-Adeline never got to say goodbye to her friends back in Shanghai. 

CLIMAX

• Sacred Heart Canossian College (Hong Kong, China) 

-Adeline moved to Hong Kong at the age of 11 with Niang's sister, Reine Schilling. Niang's sister was DIFFERENT than Niang. She was very kind to Adeline.

-Adeline's rest of the family (her dad, Niang, younger step sister, younger step brother, her grandfather, her third older brother) also moved to Hong Kong because Adeline's dad got a new house there.  

-Her sister was in Taiwan with her husband and her two older brothers were in college in London. 

-Since Adeline had nothing much to do in the boarding school, she joined a playwriting competition that she came across in a magazine. She named her play "Gone with the Locusts". It was dedicated to her grandfather. 

-Later her grandfather dies.

-At the end of term in her school, she went home and her father called her and showed her a newspaper and there was her name in one corner. She won first prize in the playwriting competition. 

END

• London Hospital Medical School (London, UK)

-Adeline's father sends her and her third older brother to London, and she went to medical school there because he was so proud of her.

"'It was announced today that 14-year-old Honk Kong schoolgirl ADELINE JUN-LING YEN of Sacred Heart Canossian School, Caine Road, Hong Kong, has won first prize in the International Play-writing competition held in London, England, for the 1951-1952 school year. It is the first time that any local Chinese student from Hong Kong has won such a prestigious event. Besides a medal, the prize comes with a cash reward of FIFTY ENGLISH POUNDS. Our sincere congratulations, ADELINE, for bringing honor to Hong Kong. We are proud of you.'" (Mah 191)

-Adeline receives a letter from her Aunt Baba (she did not follow the rest of the family to Hong Kong but stayed in Shanghai).
-Aunt Baba tells her about her life and a story about a Chinese folklore; about a little girl named Ye Xian and how Ye Xian's story was very similar to Adeline's because both of their mothers died and have a stepmother, not a nice one, but a mean, angry one. They both have their own talents and were very good at something.
-Aunt Baba says that both of their stories are very similar to a story called "Cinderella".
-Aunt Baba ends the letter with:

"MY CHINESE CINDERELLA" (Mah 197)

My Opinions:

I love this book very much. It clearly explains Adeline's pain and how she is unwanted. This book has taught me that you should never give up and work hard. I don't know why but this story  reminds me of Taylor Swift's song called "Mean". 

You, with your words like knives
And swords and weapons that you use against me
You have knocked me off my feet again
Got me feeling like I'm nothing
You, with your voice like nails on a chalkboard
Calling me out when I'm wounded
You picking on the weaker man

You can take me down with just one single blow
But you don't know, what you don't know...

Someday I'll be living in a big ol' city
And all you're ever gonna be is mean
Someday I'll be big enough so you can't hit me
And all you're ever gonna be is mean
Why you gotta be so mean?

You, with your switching sides
And your wildfire lies and your humiliation
You have pointed out my flaws again
As if I don't already see them
I walk with my head down
Trying to block you out 'cause I'll never impress you
I just wanna feel okay again

I bet you got pushed around
Somebody made you cold
But the cycle ends right now
'Cause you can't lead me down that road
And you don't know, what you don't know...

Someday I'll be living in a big ol' city
And all you're ever gonna be is mean
Someday I'll be big enough so you can't hit me
And all you're ever gonna be is mean
Why you gotta be so mean?

And I can see you years from now in a bar
Talking over a football game
With that same big loud opinion
But nobody's listening
Washed up and ranting about the same old bitter things
Drunk and grumbling on about how I can't sing
But all you are is mean

All you are is mean
And a liar, and pathetic, and alone in life
And mean, and mean, and mean, and mean

But someday I'll be living in a big ol' city
And all you're ever gonna be is mean, yeah
Someday I'll be big enough so you can't hit me
And all you're ever gonna be is mean
Why you gotta be so?..

Someday I'll be living in a big ol' city 
And all you're ever gonna be is mean 
Someday I'll be big enough so you can't hit me 
And all you're ever gonna be is mean
Why you gotta be so mean?

http://www.azlyrics.com/lyrics/taylorswift/mean.html

The Last Lecture

Describe what obstacles the main character has encountered in achieving their goal.

How did they overcome these obstacles? 

Would you be able apply this experience to your own life?  

The Last Lecture

by Randy Pausch

206 pages

Little Randy Pausch, Dreaming

Randy Pausch had many childhood dreams.

• Being in zero gravity
• Playing in the NFL
• Authoring an article in the World Book encyclopedia
• Being Captain Kirk
• Winning stuffed animals
• Being a Disney Imagineer

The first dream on the list is being in zero gravity. To achieve that childhood dream, he had to overcome some obstacles.

In NASA, there is a plane to help the astronauts get used to zero gravity, called "The Weightless Wonder" or "the Vomit Comet". Randy and his students of Virtual Reality team won the competition and they were invited to ride the plane. Randy was very excited. But NASA didn't allow any faculty advisers to fly with their students. There was Randy's "Brick Wall". He says that brick walls are there to prove to us how badly we want things. He wanted to reach his childhood dream badly. So he carefully read through the literature about the program. Randy found his way around the brick wall, because "NASA, always eager for good publicity, would allow a journalist from the students' hometown to come along for the ride" (Pausch 32) so he applied again as a journalist. He achieved one of his childhood dreams over the brick wall, and he achieved the rest of the dreams, overcoming obstacles, except for playing in the National Football League (NFL).

I think I can't apply this to me because I am still in my childhood and still have some time to dream as a child. But this part of the book made me think that I should have dreams because if I want them badly like Randy Pausch and it doesn't matter if I do or do not achieve the dream, it will make my life more meaningful and fun. 

Steve Jobs #5

When I was told that our book report was meant to be non fictional there were two names that popped up in my head, and these were Steve Jobs, and Bill Gates. I knew for a fact that I wanted a tough read and that it should be about one of these two people. After some research I found a book that I knew I would like. And this was Walter Isaacson's "Steve Jobs". As of this point in time I have read 539/571 pages, and am about to finish the book. In the duration of this book, Steve Jobs hasn't had many obstacles. In total there are two major obstacles. One of which has a solution, the other doesn't. The first was already mentioned and it is that in 1985 Steve Jobs was fired from Apple, the company he started with his best friend Wozniak. However this did not stop Steve Jobs from continuing his control of computer companies. As he immediately created a new company (NeXT) with 5 of his followers. This company "NeXT" was meant to be mainly for academics, however "NeXT" was a failure but Apple was beginning to become a failure as well, so the current CEO recalled Steve Jobs back to Apple, which then grew massively. This would most likely be very hard to implement in my life as I do not possess all of the traits that Steve Jobs possessed which forced Apple to call him back. The quote above however perfectly describes the situation that Steve jobs was in, "Sometimes life hits you in the head with a brick. Don't lose faith". Now onto the next obstacle. This obstacles was very simple. Steve jobs was diagnosed with cancer, which essentially sealed his invitation to join the grim reaper. Sadly, there was no way to overcome this obstacle, but like the quote instructs you to do. Steve jobs continued to deliver fantastic products. However this experience is always applied to our life because when we get older we become more conscious and realize that we are going to die, and there is no way to escape death.

Three Little Words

Author: Ashley Rhodes

Total Number of pages: 32

1. The main character, Ashley, has been in and out foster families since her 4^th year. Every time she changes the family, she is hoping that this time it will be final and that her younger brother Luke and she will be assigned back to her birth-mother. There are many reasons why State thinks she is incapable of taking care of her children, keeping them in foster homes.

2. At this point, I still don’t know whether she managed to overcome this obstacle. I have the feeling that she will because she seems like a very bright girl, who will probable find her way out.

3. I would not be able to apply her experience to my own life and I am very grateful it is like that. I feel am very sad that children like Ashley, all over the world,  get to know all faces of human nature so early.

Nobody's Perfect blog #1

66/289
This book is about how to deal with teenage problems.There are many different stories wrote by teens like: "Get to know your self","My moment of true", "This is who I am", 'Stay True to yourself", One chance to be me" "A Girls guide to be beautiful" and so much more. Of the stories I already read my favorite is "Get to know yourself" wrote by teenage girl named Candice Dweck. The story is about her and how everybody from her school was teasing her because of width of her body (she is fat). She love candies, that's why they give her a nick name "No candy is safe with her around". She was all miserable and she never stood up for her self until one day. She was watching Oprah's show and she was talking to a man that start losing his hair and he was always hiding in shadow because of that. But Oprah told him that nobody's perfect and that he should be afraid of who he is. When Candice heard those words she was not shame of who she is. Next day during science class Mr. Roster her science teacher saw two most popular girls in their school talking to each other about some stuff that had nothing to do with science. He said : "Would you girls like to share with your class, what are you chatting about?" , everybody was looking at them. When Candice look around to see what is going on, one of those two girls said: "What are you looking at Chubbo? Time for another fiding at the zoo?" In normal ways Candice will cry but this time she just said : " Maybe your friends are afraid of you, but I'm not!" After that day no one was teasing Candice anymore, because she show them that nobody's perfect and that she is not afraid of her self.

The Diary of Anne Frank

By: Katarina Markovic                                                                                               November 24, 2013

Author: Anne Frank, Title: The Diary of Anne Frank, Number of pages: 332. 

Anne Frank had many obstacles, but one most important was when she had fallen in love with a boy that was forbidden to see her as a couple. The boy had been forbidden by his grandparents they believed that his ex-girlfriend was the one that he should be seeing. In that tough love one more obstacle had occurred she had to hide from the german army, because they wanted to take her sister Margret. She had told the boy what had happened and that she can't see him for a while. That was kind of a solution because he excepted that. Anne didn't plan to do anything else she thought that telling him that was enough and that when she returns from hiding they will start of where they left. If I were to have siblings and would have to hide away with my whole family because the Germans want to take my sister I would apply it to something that happened in my life. But since I have no siblings and had never experienced something like that with anybody close to me I am not able to apply this to something that had happened to me. 

Anne Frank's Diary - Sonia

Non-Fiction Book Report

     I have been reading the diary of Anne Frank. The conflict in the book is basically the war, and the fact that Anne and her family, as well as another family and one other man, have to go into hiding because they are Jews. Although this is the main conflict in this book, there are several minor conflicts that happen while in hiding like the people there not getting along and arguments rising, things along those lines. Some obstacles to solving the problem that the people in hiding are not getting along too well are that they all have different personalities, have been brought up differently, or have different hobbies and pleasures from each other. Therefore, conflicts come and go in the Secret Annex, and certain people dislike each other from previous arguments. Above all, Anne is the one that gets teased and picked at, criticized by everyone hiding in the Annex. However, her father jumps to her side a lot of the times, and he defends her against all the rude comments and remarks thrown at her. 

My Life with the Chimpanzees

Blog Post #4, Andrea J
Author:Jane Goodall
Pages Read:156/156

The main obstacle for the main character would be when she got an opportunity to work in Africa, but as a paleontologist, which means that she couldn't work with live animals. Jane Goodall overcame this obstacle by working her way up and then proposing the idea of studying chimpanzees closer to her boss. Goodall was the first person ever to do this much and serious studying of the chimpanzees. I could apply this to my life because the problem is just not having the chance to do something. Goodall worked her way around the obstacle and found a solution.
"'I've been waiting for you to tell me that,' he said, his eyes twinkling. 'Why did you think I talked about those chimpanzees to you?' He told me that it didn't matter about my lack of experience or my lack of a degree. He wanted to send someone who had a mind "uncluttered by theories," someone who would watch carefully and record accurately."

Guts #4

Guts by Gary Paulsen (148/148)

One is that he was in forest. Also he needed to survive by him self. But there weren't much items he had when the plane landed in the forest. I think those are biggest obstacles. The plane that he was in, landed in the forest, and everybody except him died. He didn't have items that he would need in forest. I really don't think that I would survive. I have never been that position but it is obviously really hard. I think I would die because there are a lot of predator animals, and I would get eaten by them. 
'He held the fish against the sky until it stopped wiggling, held it and looked to the sky and felt his throat tighten, swell, and fill with pride at what he had done. He had done food' (Paulsen, 135).

Maus

Maus by Art Spiegelman
This week I have not finished the book yet but I have read 93/159 pages.
The obstacle in my book is when Vladek's  father tells him a story about his family in the past thousands of year ago in Rego Park 1958. There was a war and something bad was going to happen to humans. Also in the war the people are not really nice to you and they make you do jobs one time in the third chapter Vladek had to clean the stables with his friends. Also in the third chapter Vladek goes on a train back to his family so he can see them again but he does see his family again. Also when the war happened people had to make sure ton keep their family and kids safe so they did not get killed and in the war they met Vladek's girlfriend named Anya who is really nice. I think since my book is a cartoon and the story happens a long time ago  it is not good for people to kill fight other people  and also I think it is very important that you stop the war around the whole world because it is not fair for anybody.

The quote is" We worked very hard but, any hour later".

 

I hope you like the book too!

Miles To Go

                                  

                        Miles To Go

The book I Was reading this week was Miles To Go by Miley Cyrus. The autobiography has 263 pages. Miley is the main character and when she was in 6th grade she didn't fit in very well so one day Miley applied for an audition for the show Hannah Montana and she kept on getting call backs but she was never sure if that was a good thing or a bad thing but she didn't care because nothing ever good happened to her and she was hoping this to come true because she wanted to get away from her school and the bullies. The bullies kept on sending her notes that if she shows up in the cafeteria the next day that it wont be nice and she just couldn't take it anymore and she just couldn't wait for something good to happen to her because she didn't even have a best-friend. The producers were looking for a dad to audition and they new that Billy Ray Cyrus was her father also a singer and her mom said that it would be nice for him to be on set with her and sing because they wanted the family to be together  so they asked him for an audition and he took it. Miley and her dad got the part as Hannah and Hannah's dad. But Miley was scared that the kids in her school would think that she got the part as Hannah because of he dad. Miley had never actually gotten what she really wanted and had never had her moment to shine. Miley had to put on a free concert as Hannah she was very nervous but she thought '' This is my moment to shine'' a lot of people showed up at that  concert and every time she finished a song she would say '' ill be right back'' always when she said that she would go off stage and ask her parents and the producers how she did and all of a sudden everyone was clapping and they loved her. Miley was so happy and glad and it gave her the opportunity to get away from home. I haven't finished the book yet so I don't know how this is resolved but I think that when she comes to school again that everyone will think that she is so cool because she is popular and on disney channel playing the role of Hannah Montana. I cant really apply this kind of experience  to my life because I do fit in  school and the kids in my grade but I can't say that I wasn't  bullied before because I was. 

My Everest Story post #4 bing

I'm reading My Everest story by Mark Pfetzer I finished the the book 

The two biggest obstacles for mark, the main character, are that he wants to submit Everest but his dad has cancer in his brain. Mark loves climbing but if he goes on with climbing he wont be with his sick dad. What frustrates him is that he didn't submit Everest yet and his dad is sick so he needs to choose. Mark could submit Everest and loose his dad while he is on Everest Or not submit and be with his sick dad.

In the Valley if the Kings; Howard Carter and the Mystery of King Tutankhamen's Tomb #4

Author: Daniel Meyerson
Pages Read: 96/230 (with acknowledgments, citations, and index)
Title: In the Valley if the Kings; Howard Carter and the Mystery of King Tutankhamen's Tomb

The main character, in my book, Howard Carter, faces some challenges, others bigger, others smaller.  In the part of the book, that I am reading currently, he is struggling to find money to proceed with the excavation, which they think might lead them to figuring out where King Tutankhamen, was buried or where his father was reburied for the second time by him.

In the first two/three parts of the book, Carter is trying to become known, and to get into the business, and to be actually paid.  He is also striving to become more popular in Egyptology.

I think that this problem will resolve into them being sponsored by someone that's very rich, and finding Tutankhamen tomb. As for, carter he will become known, and be very successful for the rest of his life.

The Teens guide to world domination (End of book)

I finished the book and what a thrill i cant wait till the next one comes out because the narrator talks to you about the graduation day and how to get good grades on your report cards and if you don't get good grades how you can stop your parent from grounding you. The book was great but its even better that their are no more blog posts (no offense). At the end of my book he tells you a small secret about what happens in the next book if he will make one but im not going to tell you. Read IT yourself.....

The age of empathy

title: The age of empathy
author: Frans De Waal
number of pages: 225

the obstacle that my main character was discussing was how selfish man kind can be and how apes and other species are also very selfish and how we are leaning to a better society with a bit or greed. He proved this true because he already knew that humans were selfish and greedy but then once we was studying apes he found the same thing. 

127 Hours Between a Rock and a Hard Place” #4

Luka Dragoljic  

                                                             

Miss.Nelson

English 7B

23/11/13

 

“127 Hours Between a Rock and a Hard Place” #4

I am reading a non-fiction book called “127 hours Between a Rock and a Hard Place” by Aron Ralston and so far I read 290/342 pages.

A conflict that Aron had to overpower was a boulder that fell on his hand in “Blue John Canyon” which is in Utah. The boulder weighed at least 100kg. Aron got stuck under that boulder because he loves exploring and there is no boundary to his love for hiking. Aron overcame this enormous obstacle in a sad way. He amputated his hand. He did that because there was no other way that Aron could have been able to free himself. He also did that because he was worried that he would die of dehydration and if he fell asleep, he would die of hypothermia. He was trapped under that rock for 127 hours without water, food, lost a lot of blood when that accident happened and without sleep he was still able to free himself. Aron survived because his desire to live more, overcame all the difficulties he had during this accident. This thought struck me right into my heart because I understood that this man knows how precious life is. I would have acted the same way due to the fact that I care more about life, than my hand.

Quote that shows how he overcame the obstacle:

“Pulling tight the remaining connective tissues of my arm, I rock the knife against the wall, and the final thin strand of flesh tears loose; tensile force rips the skin apart more than the blade cuts it.” (Ralston page 285).

This quote shows us how Aron cut the last tissues of his hand before his amputation ended. After the amputation had ended Aron was ready for his new life. This book shows us that even if you lose a big chunk of your body, if you love what you are doing, you’ll always find the solution to the problem and continue to live a beautiful life.

Swimming to Antarctica Blog Post #4

I have completed the book and I'm just brainstorming and starting to plan things for my CD project.I was thinking that on the front of my CD I could have definitely something to do with swimming, but that Lynne traveled all around the world to break records and swim new distances I was thinking that I could also add the globe and her swimming on it ( but its just an idea ). Here are some ideas for the CD cover and project :
- Soviets
- Bering Strait
- Swimming
- Travel ( Earth )
- Catalina Island
- Boats
- Her crew
- Government ( Soviets and Americans )
For the songs that I'm going to use for the CD, I was thinking that they could be country, band/orchestra, or classic music. The book was exciting but it wasn't like much about her life or love or her friends it was about accomplishing her dream, and her swim.The songs might be in an adventurous way but different feelings for different songs. Since she had fallen in love, one of the songs will be love, she had reports and press people anywhere so it might be a fast song, there will be a song with surprises in between because there are a lot of them along the story, but also when the shark was about to eat Lynne and how Dave saved her. The title will be Swimming to Antarctica but I was thinking of putting a spine of the CD case too, and I wanted to put like a theme quote that is to the story ( perhaps I could put it on the spine, but when I do then if like someone takes it out of the shelf they will see the quote not the title, but it could persuade them to listen to the CD ) I could either put it on the spine ( maybe ) or somewhere on the CD cover ( either front or back ).

Winterdance: The Fine Madness of Running the Iditarod - Post #4

Mai Ness
Post #4
Winterdance: The Fine Madness of Running the IditarodGary Paulsen
Pages Read: 256/256

          In the book that I chose, there are a lot of obstacles that the main character, Gary Paulsen has to overcome. Most conflict types are Man vs. Nature because the main character is racing in Alaska during Wintertime, when it is extremely cold and dangerous. The first obstacle is that he comes to the Iditarod race and he figures out just a week before they start the race that he doesn't have enough equipment for the dogs to keep them running for the fifteen to twenty day race.The next conflicts, he encounters while he is already in the race, like the extreme weather conditions and such. He overcame these obstacles by borrowing some equipment, and also teaming up and making friends with other mushers (yes, that's what they call the racers in the Iditarod) in order to keep sane and alive. The last and most saddening conflict is what he comes across after the race. Since he did not win the Iditarod this year, he wanted to race again. Although he wanted to race, and he thought he was in a good condition, turns out he had a heart disease and could not race again. Sadly, this is how the book ends, although I was hoping for a happy ending. If I were  in these situations, I would do the same as Paulsen, since I see no better way to try to minimize the conflict any different manner.

Quote: (this is where makes friends with other mushers) "To share the doughnuts and that way and help us all get going, headed in the right direction. Just an all-around nice person, and I felt grateful that he was with us" (Paulsen 210).