Get Lost: Fantasy Book Reviews

By Noah

Hello, this is Noah, the newest member of the blog. I like a lot of books, with fantasy being among my favorite genres. Here are some fantasy books or series I really like.





The Lord of The Rings
by J.R.R. Tolkien

This book series is what I consider the grandfather of modern fantasy. The books were published in the 1950s, but many people still read them today. As you probably know, the three books were made into a series of movies. The movies are very good, but I think they don't compare to the books for a good story. The series is about a hobbit named Frodo and his quest to destroy a ring of Evil. Hobbits are odd creatures, about half as tall as humans. Frodo and his eight companions all have to try to destroy a Ring, forged by the Dark Lord Sauron. The Ring gives Sauron his power, and the only place it can be destroyed is Mount Doom, right in the center of Sauron's lands.

One of the things I like most about this series is that the author gives a lot of detail about the characters, the places, and the movement of the Fellowship of the Ring, as the group of nine is called. Also, the story gets interesting, and the plot thickens when the Fellowship is separated. The end of the series is very climatic, and it gets a bit scary when Frodo finally makes it to Mordor, Sauron's kingdom. This is a great book series.



Redwall
by Brian Jacques

This book series first started in 1988. The first book was a huge success, and many more soon followed. The book series is about peaceful animals, who live in an Abbey named Redwall, located in Mossflower Wood. The animals used for goodbeasts are usually small prey animals, like mice, hares, hedgehogs, badgers and moles. The bad guys are often portrayed by vermin or predators, like rats, weasels, wildcats and foxes. In almost every book, the inhabitants of Redwall Abbey are besieged by the bad guys, and the Abbeybeasts must keep the vermin from entering the walls of the Abbey.

The Abbey is protected by the guiding spirit of Martin the Warrior. Martin helped free all the good creatures from an evil wildcat named Tsarmina. Redwall Abbey was then built on top of where Tsarmina's palace had been. During times of trouble, his spirit comes for guidance in the dreams of an Abbeybeast.

I really like how descriptively Jacques writes. He originally wrote his books for blind children, so his works have always been very descriptive. I also like the way Jacques makes the reader feel like he or she is actually right inside the books. He is a very good author.

Back From Boston

By Lianna

This spring the eighth grade class of '09 went on its annual trip to Boston. We have all been looking forward to this trip since our kindergarten days. Finally being able to go to Boston with our class was a very exciting experience for all of us.

On Thursday we had to be at the school at 5:30 in the morning. I had to wake up at 4:45 to straighten my hair, brush my teeth, get dressed, eat breakfast and walk to the school from my friend's house. As anyone who knows me well knows, I am unable to function without a full 10 hours of sleep. So it was a very unpleasant morning.

When we arrived in Boston, we did the historical parts first. We took a walk along the Freedom Trail and then we went to a cemetery where we saw the graves of Samuel Adams, Mother Goose and John Hancock. We also went to the Old North Church and heard the story of Paul Revere. After seeing a few more historically significant sites, we went to eat lunch at Quincy Market. The chaperons handed out a meal voucher to everyone and we were free to go wherever we wanted to eat, as long as it was within a reasonable distance. I went with several friends to get pizza.

Next we went to the New England Aquarium, which is one of the most prominent aquariums in the country. This really was an incredible experience. There was a 200,000-gallon tank going through the aquarium that simulated a coral reef. In the tank were all different fish species, a sting ray, a giant sea turtle and several sharks. We spent about two hours there and then we headed off to our hotel in Brockton, which was an hour away from Boston.

We each spent about an hour in our rooms and then we went to the boat dance. The dance took place on the boat The Spirit of Boston. There were tons of people there from different schools. We ate dinner and danced around. It was pretty uneventful, but very fun, with the exception of heavy winds, bad music being blasted in our ears and creepy fedora-wearing boys.

The dance lasted for three and a half hours. We went back to our hotels at 10:30. Everyone had to go in their rooms and we were not permitted to leave them until the morning. They had duct tape put on our doors so they would know if anyone left their rooms. I was in a room with my friends Kady and Hannah. We were so exhausted from waking up early that morning that we went to sleep at a very reasonable time. Before that, we just watched television and ate candy.

In order to get to our first stop on time, we had to wake up in the morning at 6:00. At this point, we were practically dead from the sleep deprivation. I had to drink three cups of coffee to be able to function. We ate breakfast at the hotel's buffet. In order to get to our first stop of the day on time, we needed to leave by 8:00, which we did.

Our first stop happened to be a Boston Duck Tour. On this tour, we drove around Boston in a bus. The bus doubled as a boat, so we were also able to drive the bus through Boston Harbor. We had a very funny bus driver. He called us all "little quackers". The tour was very informative.

Then we went to a tower. I don't know the exact name of this tower, but I think we had a lot of fun there. We took an elevator up to the top and looked out through the many windows. They also offered little electronic, hand-held tours.

We had lunch in the mall. Again, we were given meal vouchers and were set free to get whatever we wanted. I got a turkey wrap and an iced tea. Since we had some spare time, all of the girls went into Sephora, a cosmetics store, and used their free samples. We all left the mall looking very glamorous.

The most memorable part of the mall, I think was the anime convention. People were dressed up as their favorite anime characters and gathered together to discuss anime. There were hundreds of people there. Some of the characters I recognized were Pikachu from Pokemon and Chihiro and No-Face from the Miyazaki film Spirited Away. It was a little scary, but very entertaining.

Next, we headed off to Fenway Park, where the Boston Red Sox play baseball. I know absolutely nothing about baseball, but I still enjoyed the tour. However, it was embarrassing when the tour guide randomly called on me to answer a question about the Red Sox and I didn't know what the answer was. Everyone laughed at me.

That was our last stop. We began the drive home after that. To keep us entertained on the 4-hour bus ride, we watched Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix and The Dark Knight--two of my favorite movies. We also stopped at McDonald's on the way back for dinner--not one of my favorite restaurants.

Finally, we arrived back in Garrison at about 8 pm. Each person was given a little plastic bag containing things from our trip. My favorite thing from the bag was a photograph of us at the Duck Tour. I looked miserable, since I was so tired, but I really like the picture aside from that.

Although going on this trip meant a lot of planning and fundraising, it was definitely worth it in the end. It was a very fun and exciting two days, and a great way to end our last year at Garrison.

Boston Trip: Great Expectations

Boston Duck Tour

By Lianna & Nicklas

Libby: Fun with my besties.

Ander: The vivid history and the hotel's pool (if it has one).

Drew: Fenway Park, to mock the Red Sox fans.

Nick: The duck tours.

Ali: The aquarium.

Connor: Absolutely nothing.

Sarah: The dinner-dance cruise.

Simon: The city of Boston.

Jake: The duck tour.

Richard: The bus ride.

Justin: The bus ride.

Phil: Playing video games.

Elizabeth: The dinner-dance cruise.

Eryn: Fenway Park.

Lindy: The duck tour.

Field Reports

By Chloe

Interview with Montsy, 8th Grade:
Do you like being on the softball team?
“Yes, we have a fun time.”
How are you doing this year?
“We won one game, but forefeit our last.”

Interview with Sarah, 7th Grade:
Do you like being on the softball team?
“Yeah, I like to play on the softball team with Coach Disch.”
How do you think you all are doing?
“We all try very hard.”

Interview with Avery, 8th Grade:
Do you like being on the lacrosse team?
“Yes, I love the glory and the fame of winning a game, the fire within my soul. There’s a passion I have for lacrosse.”
What do you think of the team?
“The team is unbeatable, the dream team.”
What’s your favorite part of lacrosse?
“The teamwork.”

Chloe's Movie Picks

Amazing movies:

The Curious Case of Benjamin Button (PG-13)

Titanic (PG-13)

The Wizard of Oz (G)

The Little Mermaid (G)

Scoop (PG-13)

All Harry Potter Movies (PG/PG-13)

The Ring (PG-13)

The Dark Knight (PG-13)

Shakespeare's Romeo+Juliet (PG-13)

Scary Movie 3+4 (PG-13)

The Bad Seed (NR)

Practical Magic (PG-13)

Whatever you do, don't see these movies:

Norbit (PG-13)

Pretty much everything on the Disney Channel

Epic Movie (PG-13)

No Reservations (PG-13)

Ghosts of Girlfriends' Past (PG-13) (Matthew McConaughey ruins this movie.)