Book Review: My Side of the Mountain

This book is about a boy named Sam Gribley that runs away from home into the mountains. One day he had told his father he would go to the Gribley’s land far away in the mountains and that’s what he did. After running away Sam came across a library. He found a book with maps of the Gribley’s land and copied its maps onto a piece of paper. When he reached the place, it was in wrecks.  

Sam followed his path back to the mountains. After a little while he built a hook to catch trout in the water, lit a fire, then cooked the fish he caught, and finally found a place to sleep in between boulders. The next morning as he was climbing the mountain, he found a pet falcon whom he named Frightful.

At the top of the mountain, as Frightful and Sam were roaming, they found a home in a tree. Together, they hunted fish, crabs, clams, mussels, rabbits, and birds. Not long after, Sam killed a deer and used its hide to make a suit. In his home town, Sam was known as the wild boy!

Can Sam survive in the mountains? Will he ever come home? Will home come to him? Will people find out where he lives? Make your predictions; read the book and enjoy Sam’s experience in the mountains.

Writing Girl (WG)

My Side of the Mountain

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The Firsts: My Magic act

It was February 5th 2015, the day of my first ever magic performance at my school’s annual variety show.

I have always been fascinated by magicians and how tactfully they handle the tricks, make people laugh at times, and leave them in awe other times. I asked my dad if he can teach me magic. That weekend, I noticed a delivery packet at my door step. To my surprise, I found it was a magic kit by Chris Angel. Hooray!

Over the next few weeks, I practiced a few tricks. I finally decided to use my magic to print some money and double it, poke holes in the bills and fix the holes.

The day had arrived. As soon as we reached, I was taken to the green room, and I was feeling quite excited. I couldn't wait for the show to begin, and chatted with my friends to pass the time.

In what I thought was a second, it was my turn. I confidently walked up on stage and began performing my act. The spotlight was in my eyes and I could not see anything except my props. As slowly as I possibly could, I went through my act, causing roars of laughter from the audience as I interacted with them and delivered my tricks. As time went by, I began to feel shy during the performance. Though, when I saw the video of my act later on, I didn’t appear to be shy; I was relieved.

Not long after, I went to sit with my parents in the audience. I was amazed by the acts that followed mine. A second grader with a really hard piano song, a group of people with glow in the dark costumes playing soccer and other varieties.

After the show was over, the fifth graders did a finale and passed out candy, gloves and feathery scarfs. The variety show had been better than anything I did this year (the ski trip was pretty close too). As I drove back home, I thought about my different feelings at different times; excited and impatient before the show, confident and shy during the show, relieved and satisfied after the show.   

If you didn’t know about Chris Angel, he grew up on Long Island just a few miles from where I lived for three years! He developed an interest for magic at the age of seven and performed his first show at twelve. He got paid ten dollars for that show. His main role model was Harry Houdini. Angel's first major illusion was making his mother float in the family den! He has said that, "I stayed away from magicians when I was younger because I didn't want to think like them and wanted to create my own style." Learn more about Chris Angel here.

You can see the video of my act here: Riya’s Magic show

Writing Girl (WG)

The magician in action!

Series Review: The Underland Chronicles

One sad evening, I had to go for my music lesson when my brother could go to the library instead. However, when he returned with a bagful of books, I saw a book’s cover page that read ‘The Underland Chronicles’. Looking at it, I knew this book was for me, and that very evening, I started reading.

In the first book, ‘Gregor, the Overlander’, the main character Gregor follows his two year old sister Boots down to the laundry room, when they fall through a grate to the Underland; a world beneath Earth. Now their mom would be alone with their grandmother and sister Lizzie. The kids dad had disappeared two and a half years earlier.

After the fall, Boots and Gregor met some friendly cockroaches that took them to the Underland stadium. At the stadium two people named Vikus and Solovet took Gregor and his sister to the palace. Not long after, Gregor asked Vikus if his dad had fallen down the grate. Yes, he replied. Not long after, Vikus took Gregor to a Prophecy Room, where he heard the prophecy that Gregor was a warrior who would solve the Underlands problems.

Soon Gregor, Luxa the queen, Boots, and Luxa’s cousin Henry set off on a quest to find Gregor’s dad. Will they succeed or not? Will Gregor actually solve all the Underlands problems? Read the book to find out and spend some time with Gregor and his Underland friends.

In the second book, ‘Gregor and the Prophecy of Bane’, Gregor learns that a 12 feet tall white rat, the Bane, is going to destroy the Underland; so Gregor is sent to kill it. But in the Labyrinth, where the rat is hidden, in a fight, Gregor hears the words “Don’t” from another rat before it dies. Will Gregor really kill the Bane?

In the third book, ‘Gregor and the Curse of the Warmbloods’, Gregor hears that a curse will kill all the warmbloods in the Underland. He is sent on a quest to find the cure. But is the quest really the key to stop the warmbloods death?

In the fourth book, ‘Gregor and the Marks of Secret’, Gregor, Luxa, and their bats, discover that rats are killing all the mice. They go on a secret quest to find out why the rat’s wanted to kill the mice. Will the friends be able to stop the mice from dying, before they are extinct?

In the fifth and the final book, ‘Gregor and the Code of Claw’, the friends tell all the people in the palace about the mice’s death, and together they try to find a way to keep the mice alive. Also, Gregor is sent to kill the Bane, the leader of the Underland’s problems. A prophecy says, that Gregor will die trying to kill this enormous rat. Can he kill the Bane without dying himself?

The Underland is an ancient world with many wars. Be tough hearted to deal through the pain and deaths in this book. If you can handle that, the plot in this series will take you to emotional rides that is exciting, intimidating, suspicious, and fun; all one after the other.

Writing Girl (WG)

Book Review: The Trumpet of the Swan

One splendid morning, a Trumpeter Swan’s eggs hatched. Like most fathers, the father swan (a cob) wanted to show off his babies. He spotted a boy (Sam Beaver), whom he had met one year ago. As the father introduced the baby trumpeter swans to Sam, each one said hello, except Louis; he tugged onto Sam’s shoe laces instead. At that moment, the cob realized that Louis could not speak.

Not long after, Louis fell in love. However, he could not speak, and his mate Serena kept swimming away from him. Louis’s father spotted that since Louis could not speak he would have trouble finding a wife. The cob stared sadly at the ground, wondering what he could do to help Louis. After a lot of thinking, he knew what to do.

Later that day, the cob went to a music store and stole a trumpet for Louis to use as a communication tool. Meanwhile, Louis was drawing an image of school in the ground as a way to ask Sam if his teacher could teach him to read and write. Understanding what Louis meant, Sam convinced a fourth grade teacher to accept Louis as a student. When Louis came back to Sam, he knew how to read and write.

Sam gifted him a dry erase board and marker to communicate with humans. Back home the cob gave Louis the trumpet. After a while Louis learnt to play. When his dad told him that he had stolen the trumpet, Louis felt bad and wanted to pay back the money for it.

Louis went looking for jobs far and wide. Can Louis earn enough money to pay for the trumpet? What kind of challenges will he face? How will he feel? What will he learn about the real world during his unique journey? 

The author E.B. White touches up on these very sensitive and real moments all throughout the book. I hope you will read this book and enjoy the time Louis spends finding jobs and having adventures.

Writing Girl (WG)

The Trumpet of the Swan

The Firsts: Skiing On Hills

I woke up and my eyes fluttered open. I immediately ran downstairs for breakfast. “C’mon” my dad called to me, “ we’re going on a ski trip!” “Yay” I shouted. Soon we were all ready for the ski trip. At the moment I was very happy, excited, and restless. In the car, I read a book to pass time.

When we reached, I hopped out and hastily ran to the skiing place. I filled out a form and got my ski gear. I quickly clipped the boots to my ski’s and picked up the poles. We slowly walked to the lesson area. When I had trouble sidestepping, I went to a below level to learn. I slowly caught up and soon was doing the same. After a hard time, I finally learned the wedge, and turns. Soon I was ready to go onto the hills with a coach. There we practiced even more. Not long after, I was doing the hills on my own. The solo lift rides up the hills were fascinating. I don't remember the count of times I went up in lift and down with ski, and I felt a sense of freedom and independence that I haven't felt before.

The weather couldn't be better; 34 degree F temperature, fresh snow covered hills, and the bright light of 9 AM morning filled the sky. The brightness of the surroundings reflected on our faces and is caught  in a selfie my dad took with me and my big bro.

They were 3 hills to choose from at my level: Frosty (hardest) Powder Puff (middle) Snowflake (easiest). After falling badly on Powder Puff, I quit to Snowflake. When the skiing place was almost closing, I had a choice to go on Powder Puff. But because of my fall I didn’t. When I took off my boots and put on my shoes they felt very loose. It was because I had just worn very tight boots, and I was in them for over 8 hours!

As soon as we started driving, I looked out and saw a beautiful landscape stretching far and wide. To me this skiing trip was a very good experience being in nature and I realized for the first time how much I enjoy my own company.

Writing Girl (WG)

A selfie my dad took with me and my big bro.

Piano Pleasure

In my opinion, piano is the best musical instrument. First, it uses a little bit of each and every instrument, so if you know how to play the piano, you can learn other instruments faster. Second, you can really feel the music in your heart. That helps you feel relaxed. Third, piano can cheer you up when you are having a terrible day. There is no doubt that when you choose an instrument, piano is the one to take.  

Did you know or not?

• Piano holds the title of “King Of Instruments”.
• The total string tension in a grand piano is close to Thirty Tons!
• The working section of the piano is called the action. It has about 7500 parts!
• During 1869 the US produced 25,000 pianos, in 1909 production peaked at 364,500 pianos, and sadly in recent years the sale has plunged to 30,000-40,000 units per year. Guess why?

Writing Girl (WG)