Thursday, December 12, 2013

Concise, Precise Summaries!

Readers,

As a voracious reader, I love discussing books with other lovers of literature. I have joined book clubs, emailed with friends, and sat down over many meals where the conversation turned to what everyone was reading. Books are a part of my life.

However, I have noticed I have certain friends who never fail to disappoint me with their EXCELLENT recommendations. I finally figured out why they are so great at this life skill ...

When recommending a book to me, they give a concise, precise summary of the book. Their summary consist of the main characters, the setting, and the problem and solution, otherwise known as, the plot. They use LITERARY ELEMENTS to explain what the book is about!

I would like for you to write a short summary about the fiction book you are reading, including characters, settingand the plot (problem/solution). Assume I have not read the book and be sure to edit your work.

Here is an example from Ida B.

Ida B 
is about a young girl, who lives with her mom and dad on a farm and is home schooled after an unpleasant experience at school. She lives a happy life, using her imagination to play on the farm and with her pets. Sadly, her mother gets cancer and Ida B's life is turned upside down and she is heart-broken. She must return to school and she makes a decision to change into a person with a cold, hard heart.
I cannot wait to see your understanding of what you are reading!

Your teacher,
Ms. Blackmon

39 comments:

  1. I liked the summary that you put.

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  2. The Son Of Neptune is a book about a guy named Percy Jackson. When Percy is left on the streets he can't remember anything. Until he get's to this camp called Camp Jupiter. Camp Jupiter is a safe place for demi-gods to hide so monsters can't get them. Percy has to go n a quest with his new friends Hazel and Frank. Percy, Hazel, and Frank have secrets they might haft to tell to save the world.

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  3. My book is about a girl named lily whose best friend is moving away and her father is going into war. Now, she has nowone to play with, until a boy moves in. Lily and the boy become good friends. But one day, Lily tells a lie that could cost him his life.

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  4. My book is Percy Jackson sea of monsters. It is about Percy, Annabeth and Tyson going on a quest that know one said they could go on. But they're trying to get the golden fleece which is in the sea of monsters aka the bermuda triangle so they can save the camp. And to save their friend Grover.

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  5. Savvy is about a girl named Mississippi Beaumont. She has 3 brothers and 1 sister. The thing that is special about the Beaumont's is that when they turn 13 they get their savvies. This is a special power that allows them to do incredible things. Mississippi's savvy is that she can hear ink talk on people's skin! Her dad gets in a car wreck and is rushed to he hospital. She becomes a stoaway on a pink selling bible bus. Her dad has tattoo on his back, and she hopes that she can save him by seeing what his tattoo says.

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  6. The book I am reading is The Son of Neptune. It is a book about a teenage boy who's name is Percy Jackson and he is the son of Neptune. So far in my book Percy showed up at Camp Jupiter and did not know where he was or who he was he could only remember his girlfriend Annabeth.Then he goes on a quest with Hazel and Frank to find Thanatos the god of death and free him from the giants.On the way they try to look out for their missing eagle. From Camp Jupiter

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  7. The Fire Within is about a man,David that moves in with a single mother,Liz and her eleven year old daughter,Lucy and he discovers a collection of clay dragons that come to life.His special dragon inspires him to write a story for Lucy's birthday which unravels secrets and the future.This all takes place in Scrubbley,Massachusetts.

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  8. The book I am reading is titled Fire Star. It is about a college student named David. He has traveled to Canada's ice tundra to do some research on polar bears. Before he left he had started a story about two bears. His girlfriend Zanna wants to read his story but David will not let her because the story contains their enemy Gwilianna. They break up but instead of staying to do research he goes back home. He soon finds out that Zanna is missing along with three bears. This is the main parts in Fire Star

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  9. The book that I am reading is called 39 clues by Rick Riordan.It is about two kids named Amy and Dan Cahill that find out that they are in the most important family in history.They have try to take down the famous Vespers who are trying to take their family and try to get the Cahill family serum.If you like mysterious fiction stories you should read this book.

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  10. The Battle Of The Labyrinth is about Percy, Annabeth, Grover, and Tyson going in to the labyrinth. They have to find Daudalus's workshop. If they find him they have to ask him to help stop Kronos's army from invading camp.

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  11. The book I am reading is Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets.This book is about a young wizard named Harry Potter,who want's to attend his second year at his wizard school Hogwarts.But his Uncle and Aunt who he lives with won't let him,and one night his friend from Hogwarts Ron and his two brothers take there dad's car and free Harry from his Uncle and Aunt.

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  12. I suggest Spider Wick. The book is about magical creatures. The main character are Mallory, Jared ,and Simon, Oh and Thimpletack A nice magical creature. The story takes place in an old house that Jared's mom's mom house, but the house is not like any other house it also is magical.The plot is that there is not so nice creatures after the book that was in the house that Jared has. So Mulgarth ( the leader of the bad creatures) goes to Jared's house and tries to take it but Jared kill Mulgarth

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  13. The Hunger Games
    This book takes place in a capitol called Panem. Panem is surrounded by twelve districts. The Everdeen family lives is district twelve. Katniss and Prim Everdeen live with their mother. Their father died. Every year each district has to pull one boy and one girl out of a big bowl. When Prim got pulled out of the bowl Katniss stepped up and took her place. In order to win the hunger games you have to be the last one alive. Want to see who will win? Read the book

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  14. My book is about a boy named David who moves into a house with a family, a mother, Liz and her daughter Lucy. Lucy loves squirrels. She had a squirrel that lived in her back yard before the oak tree got cut down. His name was Conker. He had one eye from a fight. Liz makes dragon. She gave one to David witch expired him to make a story about Conker. But David starts to relise that the dragons are real.

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  15. The book I am reading is called My life as a Book it's about a boy named Dereck that finds an article about a girl who drowned. So he spends the rest of the summer trying to find out more finally his mom tells him that Susan was His baby sitter when he was 2 that saved him but drowned... Finally they visit his grandma who lives near where the drowning happened. And then they find out from Susan James's best friend that Susan James was His Baby sitter that died from the under toe and did not die saving him. His trusty dog Bodi saved him from going out to sea by pulling him back by his pants. If you like funny stories you stories you should read this book.

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  16. Diary of a wimpy kid
    This book is about a kid in middle school named Greg Heffley. His mom got him a diary but he wanted a journal. He tells his mom he is not going to be writing about his life. But he ends up writing in his book. He tells everything that isn't fair about school and how weird his family is. Read this book to out what he writes in his diary.

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  17. The Secret School
    This book is about a girl named Ida, and she goes to a small school that has one. All of Ida life she has wanted to be a school teacher and go to the high school that is little far from where her family life lives. But Ida teacher's mom got sick so she has to go and take care of her, so that meant that everyone at that school couldn't go there unit next year when they have a new teacher. But everyone at the school says that Ida should be the teacher, but they know that the head of the school board wouldn't let her. So Ida will make the school secret.

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  18. I am reading Diary of a Wimpy Kid Hard luck. In the book Greg does not have any friends because Rowley has a girlfriend. So Greg is looking for a new friend. In the middle of the book Greg finds a new friend. His new friend is Fregely. Fregely is weird. Very weaird. I wonder who he will be friends next.

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  19. My story is called KIDNAPPED.It's about a girl who gets kidnapped and her brother is desperate to find her he will not eat ,or sleep.The girls dad is a writer and he writes about a survival guy named Max mullen.She uses one survival tip so far and instead of the cops getting it the kidnappers find out where she is and thats all i've read.

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  20. Mr. Lemoncello's library is about a young boy who wants to go to the new town library in Alexandriaville Ohio. When he finds out he gets to go they get locked inside and everything starts to turn into one big game.

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  21. My book is Percy jackson the last olympian. It is about Percy jackson trying to kill there enyme named Kronos. The reason he is doing this is because Kronos is trying to take down olympis. And thats how far ive gotten.

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  22. My book is called The sea of monsters. Percy is having a hard time at camp half blood { a camp for demi gods} because the borders are falling to keep out monsters and his friend Grover is almost dead and stuck in a cyclops cave.Percy goes on a quest to save grover and Thalestree that protects camp.

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  23. I am reading Harry Potter The sorecers stone by J.K Rowling. It is about a boy named Harry and his parents died. Then he has to go live with his mean aunt and uncle and his cousin Dudley. He gets treated badly and it is Dudley's birthday. Dudley hates Harry so much. He did not want him to go with him on his birthday. That's all i read so far.

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  24. The book i'm reading is Big Nate flips out. Nate is probably known for his messes that he makes. But his friend Teddy his uncles is a magician and made Nate good and he does not get detention for a week and all his grades are a+ for the week but then Teddy's uncle comes back and hypnotizes him back to normal now he is back to the messy Nate.

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  25. My book is Mr. Lemoncello's Library. In the book Kyle and his friends are chosen to be locked in the new library, but while they are there there are some tricky questions and quests to solve. In the second half of the book they have to find the way out of the library but not use the fire exits or front door. A the end all of the friends get out and get to be on the Christmas TV show with Mr. Lemoncello him self! I enjoyed the book!

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  26. The book I am reading is The Red Pyramid. In my book, two young siblings Carter and Sadie after being separated for many years try to save their dad is captured by Set, an evil God. They travel from London to New York to Cairo to the First Nome and probably more that I have not gotten to yet.

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  27. My book is called Ranger's Apprentice book 1 of 12. In the story there is a kid named Will. He lives at Redmont fief. The book starts on the Choosing Day. On Choosing Day you get chosen for a job. The only problem is that there is no job that he is fit for. Then when no one will pick him somebody does, and he's a Ranger. That is all that I have read.

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  28. My book is Percy Jackson. In this book percy is a suspect for the missing lightning bolt that belonged to the god Zeus. He has 10 days to find it. But he has obsticles such as the riddle of oracle. and having dyslexia dosen't help. will percy make it?

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  29. My book is called Harry Potter and the goblet of fire. It is about a boy who has amazing adventures and goes to a wizard school called Hogwarts. The problem is that when everybody that put there name to be chosen for the goblet of fire the goblet went crazy! It started to shoot flames out across the room and everybody was freaked out! Harry's friend Angelena plays Qudditch with Harry. She put her name in the ballet and she won! Harry and his Quidditch friends were really excited!

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  30. My book is about a teenage wizard named Harry potter. He really wants summer to end so he does not have to live with the horrible muggles named the dursleys. He can not wait to return to his favorite school Hogwarts. Then he finds out he might get expelled from hogwarts for using illegal magic. When he is at the ministry of magic they all say he should be expelled but then his head master Dumbledore shows up and says harry did not use illegal magic. And then harry goes back to hogwarts.

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  31. The book I am reading is called Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban The main characters in the book are Harry Ron Hermione Hagrid and professor Lupin One problem so far is Black who might be bad got out of Azkaban and is on the lose the stor took place at the Dursleys Harry's his mean aut and uncles house.another plot is that Malfoy harry's enemy got hurt by a cute animal that Hagrid loved and now it has to be killed.

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  32. My book is called The Report Card.It's about a girl named Nora and gets a report card for school.But the report card had really bad grades.She got all Ds except for one C!Her parents were so mad Nora's parents grounded her.Then when Nora was in school again.She had to go to a little meeting with all of her teachers, and parents.They talked about why Nora got the grades.

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  33. My book is called Captain Fact creepy-crawly Adventure and it's about two super-heroes named Captain Fact and Knowledge who are a weather man and dog. The problem is that the president is bitten by a creepy-crawly and the two super-heroes try to figure out what insect bit him.

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  34. I'am reading The Battle of the Labyrinth which is part of the Percy Jackson series.The main character is Percy,Annabeth,Tyson,and Grover.The setting is at multiple places,but the main one is in the Labyrinth.The problem is that they don't want Luke's army to invade camp.The solution is that they find Daedalus to tell him not to tell Luke how to get to camp,and figure out he's Quintus.So they go back to camp because Quintus told Luke how to get to camp so they have to defend.

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  35. The book I'm reading is called Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets. Harry Potter is on his second year at Hogwarts, but it might be his last. Someone has set the monster of Slytherin on mudbloods, they are writing strange messages on the wall, and they have opened the Chamber of secrets. It is up to Harry, Ron, and Hermione to defeat the monster of Slytherin, find the heir of Slytherine, and stop Hogwarts from closing.

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  36. The book I am reading is called The Candy Makers. there are four children named Logan,Miles,Philip,and Daisy. There is a candy making competition going on in town,but what these four don't know is that their lives are going to get very easy. These four all have resently turned twelve,and the competition was for twelve and up. Logan lives in a candy store/factory,and just got rid of the the lolly pop bed. Know he sleeps on a candy cane bed

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  37. The book I am reading is called My life as a book. It's about a boy named Dereck that finds a news papper article. The article is about a girl who drowned named Susan James so he makes it his mission to find out more over the summer. Then he starts looking at web sites about the drowning and how it happend. Until finally his Mom tells him Susan James was his babysitter and died trying to save him. Then a while later they go on a trip to see grandma whing who lives near the drowning, and he finds out that Susan James didn't die saving him at all. She drowned because she went to far out in the ocean and the riptide got her!

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