May 5, 2008 "Gathering Blues"

I just started reading the book Gathering Blues, by Lois Lowry. It is the last of my three books for my author study. The book starts out talking about Kira who is crippled on one leg. Her mother just passed away from a sickness and she’s sitting at the grave site watching it. She is all alone and doesn’t know what is to become of her. I’m not really far in the book. Remember I just started it today so I’m trying to get use to it. I really like how the author started the book out though. I was drawn into the book right away. I also do remember Kira from the last book I read and that’s what made this book so much more interesting.

May 2, 2008 "Shadow Spinner"

I finally finished the book. In the end Marjan ends up going back to the storyteller to finish the story. Everything they planned falls apart and they have to find a different way to get back into the harem. Soon Marjan and the queen's sister get in thanks to a couple of musician. After that everyone that was involved get caught and Marjan has to go and bail them out by telling the truth to the Sultan. She saves everyone and The king decides in the end to stop killng girls. Marjan escapes and is able to leave the harem finally. I really liked the book. It kept me wondering what would happen next. I love the ending because I like endings that are happy and everyone gets what they want.

May 1, 2008 "Shadow Spinner"

Marjan was telling stories to the little kids in the harem and soon she was called to meet Shahrazad. The Sultan's bride had run out of stories to tell him and needed a really good stories to keep him entertain so she could live. The bride has asked Marjan to help and thankfully Marjan is able to help, but to her surprise the Sultan knows the story. He is very impressed and wants to hear the rest of the story. Shahrazad orders Marjan to come live with her and asks her to finish the story, but Marjan doesn't know the rest of the story, which leaves the bride with nothing. Marjan is desperate to help her and doesn't want the bride to die because of her fault. Shahrazad is able to push the story for three days, but they couldn't find anyone who knew the story. They set out plan where Marjan would go out and find a bazzar who knew the story. The problem was that no one could leave the harem so they would sneak Marjan out.

April 30, 2008 "Shadow Spinner"

I just began to read the book "Shadow Spinner," by Susan Fletcher. In the beginning it starts out with a girl named Marjan who lives with her aunt and uncle. She is partially crippled on one of her legs. At the beginning her aunt goes to the Sultan's harem to sell jewelary to the ladies there. The only thing that was on her mind was to meed the bride of the Sultan, Shahrazad. Shahrazad was like a role model to Marjan because she had stopped all the killings of the Sultan for about two years now. The Sultan's first wife had cheated on him so he was so hurt with anger that he started killing off everyone lady he married. Everynight he would kill his bride, but Shahrazad was able to stop the killings by telling the Sultan stories before bed time and not finishing them. Then he would let her live so he could hear more stories.

April 29, 2008 "Messenger"

Matty and Kira have finally reached the center of the forest, but are so worn out that they can no longer continue. Leader decides to go into the forest and help them. When he enters he is attacked by the vines and cut by the branches. He then calls on Kira with his gift to tell Matty to use his gift. Matty is so weak and doesn't think that he'll have the strenght to use his gift, but out of no where his hands start to shake. He begins to heal the forest and the village. Everything that once was has gone back. All the people who changed have returned to their normal selves, but for Matty it ends for him there. He uses his gift to heal others. He ends up dying at the end of the book, but he receives his new name, which is "Healer."

April 28, 2008 "Messenger"

Matty and Kira have just left her village and entered the forest together. What they don't know is that danger is ahead of them and maybe deathly. They both run into obstacles with the forest. In the book it talks about both Matty and Kira having a gift to do things. Kira uses her gift to guide them through the forest and to see what is happening. Matty and Kira are really close to the center of the forest, but they have been attacked so badly by the forest that they can't go on. Both lay down to rest and are so weak that they have given up.

April 25, 2008 "Messenger"

Matty has just left the village to go put up sign for visitors or new comers. He is sadden but determined to get them all up. He makes it through the forest, but it was a rough journey. He was able to put up all the sign, but he had one last thing to do. He was to convince the blind man’s daughter to come back with him. He had made a promise to bring her back before the three weeks are over. After the three weeks no one would be able to come into the village anymore. Matty has just arrived at the blind man’s daughter, Kira’s, house. He is tired, but he sees her suffer due to a handicap leg. She needs to use a cane all the time and so he thinks he can heal her with his power. I’m at the power where he is thinking about healing her, but knows that it will take a lot of energy out of him to do so.