Monthly Archives: May 2018

The Ship of the Dead

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The book I read was The Ship of the Dead by Rick Riordan. This book is 432 pages long. Another series is the classic Percy Jackson series and the lesser-known spin-off book series The Trials of Apollo. One part I love about this book is that it makes you think deeper into the story by forcing you to think about each character and what side they are and if there are any sides.

<SPOILER ALERT!!!!!!>

ONLY READ THIS SUMMARY IF YOU HAVE READ THE 2 OTHER BOOKS BEFORE IT IN THIS SERIES!

Thank you for boarding The Ship of the Dead.

We will be serving chips with a side of Ragnarök until we arrive.

“I hate this plan. Let’s do it.” -Magnus Chase

Magnus is just a not-so-regular kid who needs to battle gods and other things to stall Ragnarök for as long as possible, but now, it’s just around the corner, with more stakes than ever. Loki has escaped from his eternal cave and has now joined his crew to wait for the ice to thaw out so his ship can leave, with his millions of crew. Now, Magnus has to train to be able to steer his own ship into the freezing waters of Jötunheimr, the land of the giants. Once Magnus has finally finished his training, he calls all his friends to board the ship and go out into Jötunheimr. They travel through the sea until a cold breeze hits them, the welcoming signal to Jötunheimr. It gradually gets colder, until even Magnus and Blitzen, the most resilient to the cold, can’t handle it. Blitzen and Hearthstone are sent away on their own little quest to find the mead of poetry or something. When they first go and need to find something, they find something that definitely doesn’t seem human. They come back and steal Magnus, find the beast again (a.k.a. Hearth’s dad who abused him) and they kill him and eat his heart. (HLECK) They give the ring of evil back and then find the whetstone they need to get to the mead. They outwit the slave guards and find the gate, but they can’t open it, but luckily there is someone who is prisoner there and they have her take out the hose and pour in the container. Finally, they meet back up with the crew and they go and meet up with Magnus’s grandfather’s wife. They stay there for a little bit and then set off to battle Loki. Who will win in the battle of wits, strength, and strategies? Will Magnus be able to catch Loki and stop him from starting Ragnarok? Or will he fail and will the end of the world continue unperturbed? To find out, read The Ship of the Dead by Rick Riordan to find out!

The Boy on the Wooden Box

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The book I read was The Boy on the Wooden Box by Leon Leyson. This book is 240 pages long. A surprising fact about the author (well, if you aren’t in PA 6th grade) is that he survived the Holocaust. Another interesting fact is that he died of lymphoma. This book is about Leon’s experiences in the Holocaust. My favorite part about this book is that Leon has so many tense moments of pure luck, and it makes me want to see if he lived even though I knew he had. 

“Not even the scariest of fairy tales could have prepared me for the monsters I would confront while just a boy of ten … or for the hero, disguised as a monster himself, who would save my life.”-Leon Leyson

Leon is a small boy in a family of 7, the youngest. He enjoys playing with his brothers and never tires of new activities. His two brothers, Tsalig and David are his two role models and care for him throughout his life. His friends in Narewka, Poland are also caring, even though they do not share the same religion. Some of them were rude to him during one week, the week before Easter, but he never thought anything of it. His dad was employed at a glass-making factory which made it big and moved to Kraków. His dad was one of the lucky few to move with the company, and he promised to gather enough money to allow them all to move to Kraków. His mother struggled to care for everybody because she was a single person taking care of 5 needy children, but she managed. When his dad finally gathered enough money to allow them to move, they packed up their belongings and said goodbye to all of their relatives. In Kraków, they lived relatively well, being able to buy enough food to live and being employed really helped. But then, in one night, everything changed. Germany invaded Poland and took control of the government. They still lived relatively peacefully, if not in fear, but the Germans were still neutral in their behavior toward the Jews. Immediately, they changed. They abused Jews and forced them into ghettos and camps. Then, when all hope seemed lost, they find the man who saved their life, Oskar Schindler. Will they be able to make it out unscathed? Or will they all lose someone they love? To find out, read The Boy on the Wooden Box, a memoir by Leon Leyson.