Buck McHenry- December 15 2009

My reading response journal entry is on the book Buck McHenry by Alfred Slote. This book filled me with shock and made me surprised a lot. One of my text to self connections was when Mack Henry lied he was a famous baseball player like my friend who lied his dad was one. This book is good for me because it never confused me and is very interesting.

In this book, Aaron changed a lot. He used to be drowned in stress, and now is always up and out with his friends. His grandfather made him change by lying he was a famous negro league baseball player. This inspired to play baseball again and he joined Jason's new team. Jason also changed a lot. When Jason thought Mr. Henry was Buck McHenry, he was always very excited. But when he overheard a conversation and learned that Mr. Henry was only Mack Henry, he was just back to normal. He handled this news well, didn't get depressed and was still happy that Mr. Henry was going to be his new coach.

The real problem in this story was that everybody thought that Mack Henry was Buck McHenry. This rumor was spread almost to national television. It was resolved when there was a sports show about Mack Henry and it explained all of the confusion. Throughout this problem, Jason got a new baseball team and two new friends. If I could something about this book it would be that Jason got credit for everything that happened on the sports show. I think the author's message is to be yourself. While Mr. Henry was acting as Buck McHenry he felt guilty and depressed.

The Sign of the Bevear Summary December 4 2009

Matt is only 12 years old, yet with a huge responsibility. His family left him at the cabin alone. But in these days, kids usually knew how to survive on their own. He always feels like someone is watching him. He tries out his father's gun and soon gets used to it. But one day, a bear breaks into the cabin and eats all of his sugar. He goes out and finds a bee hive and tries to get honey. Not smart. He ends up soaked with a sprained ankle on the side of the stream. The Native Americans saved him. They gave him medicine and treated his ankle. Matt then knew they were watching him. A native named Saknis, began to make his grandson deliver Matt a daily need of food. It was part of an agreement. Matt would teach Attean ( Saknis's grandson) to read while the Natives would supply Matt with food. Matt and Attean usually went out hunting and Matt always learned knew things.

One day Matt was invited to have dinner with the Natives. It was amazing because that never happens. Soon after, Attean left to find his manatew. Matt was lonely. When Attean came back, Matt was asked to move with the Natives because Winter was coming. Matt still believed his family would come back. He kept thinking, but still believed in his family. So the Natives left, but Matt's family came back. It was back to normal.