Bristol Bay Summer Book Review

Annie Boochever's book, Bristol Bay Summer, is about a girl named Zoey who doesn't want to move to Bristol Bay, Alaska for the summer. After her mom and dad divorced, her mom, her brother, and Zoey moved to Anchorage and now, her mom's boyfriend, Patrick wanted them to move to Bristol bay to work fish. A few days after they arrived Eliot, her little brother, got sick. Thomas, the son of the woman they came to work for skiffed them to the nearest hospital. When Eliot got better, they went home and started working for Thomas's mom and uncle. Zoey's job was to pick the fish out of the net with Thomas. Patrick transported the fish by plane to Dillingham. One day while he and her mom were away, a Japanese Typhoon with winds to 70 mph blew their camp away.  Zoey tried to get Eliot to Thomas's house but they lost their way.  Instead, they ended up at the old boat beached in the sand they found on their first day in Bristol Bay. When the storm died down, Zoey's mom decided that they should go back to Anchorage but Zoey decides to stay with Patrick. She wants to use the money she got to go back and visit her dad in Colorado. But on the way back from dropping off Zoey's mom and brother, the plane crashes! Zoey has to save Patrick from the wreck and call " mayday" on the radio because he was badly injured and had passed out. She was also upset because she had called her dad and found out that he was already remarried and his new wife was pregnant. But once Patrick was better and they went back to Anchorage, she can't wait to go back to Bristol Bay next summer.

One of the largest themes in Bristol Bay Summer is that sometimes, things you think are going to be terrible don't turn out to be so bad.  This theme is supported when Zoey is thinking about how she really doesn't want to go.  "Every time the Bristol Bay idea had come up she was very clear 'I am not going'"(15). When Zoey decides she doesn't want to go home,  she says "When everyone was seated Eliot said, 'Zoey, aren't you happy? Mom, says we get to go home now?'  Zoey finished chewing, 'Not really'"(197).  Last of all,  Zoey says, " I never thought in a million years, I would want to come back here but now I hope I do"(240). This statement proves that even though in the beginning of the summer she didn't want to come now she is looking forward to coming back.  

I would definitely recommend this book, especially for people enjoy the outdoors.  This book gives you a good taste of fish work in Bristol Bay and pull you into Zoey's adventures.  Annie Boochever ties Zoey's family and her mom's boyfriend in so that everything really fits.  I think that almost anyone could enjoy this book.

Practice Book Review: The Veldt

The Veldt, by Ray Bradbury, is a story of a family in the future, who become very dependent on the technology in their house.They have a nursery that is controlled by the minds of the people using it. Lydia, the mom, decides that something is wrong with the nursery. When they go down there the room is a veldt, or a African savanna, and they hear a scream. Then the lions charge them and Lydia gets scared and runs out of the room. She thinks the rooms is to real. Lydia decides that they should lock up the nursery for a few days. They do and right after the door trembles as if something terrible jumped against it from other side. George Hadley, the dad, waits a while and then goes back in. He tries to to change the scene around him but can not. He thinks the that their son, Peter, might have tampered with the machine and set it to remain as the veldt. When Peter and his sister, Wendy, come home they lie that the room is not a veldt and Wendy goes to check but finds it as a forest.When they go back to the nursery later they find George's wallet and Lydia's scarf both covered in blood. Later that night, they wake to the roars of lions and two familiar screams. They think that peter and Wendy had broken into the nursery. In the morning George decides to lock up the nursery and Peter gets so angry he threatens him. A psychologist comes and says that the nursery must be turned off. The kids through a tantrum and demand one more minute. He gives in but this time when they hear peter and Wendy calling for them they go down. The kids lock them in the nursery for the loins.

One of the main themes of The Veldt is that spoiling your children can have a very bad effect. My first example of this theme is when they agree that the nursery is very fancy but that it was not too good for Peter and Wendy. They say, "but nothing is to good for our children." Second of all, when they start suspecting Peter and Wendy to have changed the nursery and deciding that the nursery should stay closed they say"We've given the children every thing they ever wanted. is this our reward-secrecy, disobedience." Lastly, Peter says " that would be dreadful! Would I have to tie my shoes instead of letting the shoe tier do it? This proves that he is very spoiled with all of the technology. Thees are three examples of why this is one of the main themes in The Veldt.

I would definitely recommend this story to people who like good twists and really awesome technology. This story is short but is very interesting and full of action. It is a must read.