A Book Report: The Bronze Bow

The Bronze Bow was written by Elizabeth George Speare. This book is about a boy who overcomes his weaknesses and learns to love his enemies. In this book, Elizabeth George Speare did not specifically tell the readers what happened at the end. She let her readers make up their own ending.

In the beginning of the story, Daniel has a passion to avenge his father’s death by killing the Roman soldiers and driving them out of Israel. Daniel joins an outlaw band living in the hills by his village. Many events cause him to return to his home and take care of his sister. The book takes place in a city in Israel near Capernaum. This book begins when Daniel is with his band up in the mountains. He meets a boy named Joel and his sister Malthace who have decided to visit the mountains, not knowing that a band of rebels lives up in the mountain caves. Later on, Daniel gets hurt and goes to live in a little room in the wall of Joel and Malthace’s house. In a nearby city, Jesus is teaching and preaching. Daniel is drawn to the rabbi and expects Jesus to join his band of outlaws, ready to strike the Romans. When Jesus declines Daniel’s invitation to join the band, Daniel is confused. In the end, he learns to trust in Jesus and love his Roman enemies. The book ends when Daniel comes back to his home to find Jesus healing his demon possessed sister. 

The main characters in The Bronze Bow are, Daniel, Joel, Malthace, Leah, and Jesus. Daniel is very insecure, angry, and bitter at the beginning of the book. As the book goes on, Daniel changes. He learns that forgiveness, not revenge, is the right answer to his inner turmoil. Daniel and Joel become very close friends. In one chapter, Joel is taken captive, and Daniel risks his life to set his friend free. By the end of the book, Daniel has also grown closer to Malthace (Thacia). Elizabeth George Speare writes, “He heard Thacia catch her breath, and turned and looked into her eyes. He knew he was not worthy of the gift he saw there, but he knew that at last he was free to offer her all that he had in return.” She makes it sound as if Daniel and Thacia have a future together, but she leaves that open for the readers to decide.

I liked how the author made it almost sounded as if the author was going to write a sequel or epilogue. I also liked how Daniel changed so much. It was amazing to see him turn from a boy bent on revenge for his parents’ death to a caring and forgiving young man.

My overall reading experience of this book was very entertaining and educational. I learned so much about the life of Jesus that I did not know before. I also learned how hard it was for the Israelites at the time that the Romans ruled over them. After reading this book, I recommended it to my grandmother and told her that it was a must read. So, yes – I would definitely recommend this book to others.

– By Leigh Collins

A Short Story: Alissa in Wonderland

Alissa slammed her bedroom door. She couldn’t take it! Her mom was telling that stupid story about how she went to this place called “Wonderland” when she was little. Alissa sighed. Most of her friends’ parents didn’t going around telling crazy stories. But Alissa’s mom had never lost her imagination. She told that story over and over again.

Alissa went out of her house the next day to go pick some flowers. As Alissa was picking flowers, she saw a rabbit in suit. It was even more odd when the rabbit pulled out a stopwatch and started pointing at it like he was in a hurry to get somewhere. “No way,” Alissa gasped. It was just like the story her mom told over and over again.

The rabbit kept pointing at his watch and motioning to Alissa like he wanted her to follow him. Alissa took a small step toward him. As Alissa followed him, she looked around. Her surroundings had suddenly changed. She noticed that the grass wasn’t dry anymore. It was damp with dew. The once white roses were dripping with red paint. Suddenly Alissa felt the ground give way beneath her, and she began sliding down a dark, dirty hole at a frightening pace. Alissa grasped at the weeds and roots on the wall of the tunnel, but each time she caught a hold of one it slipped right through her fingers, and she continued to fall faster down the deep, dark pit. A scream caught in Alissa’s throat. It’s happening. I’m going crazy just like my mom. Just when Alissa thought the pit would never end, she unexpectedly landed with a thud on the bottom of the pit. In less than a minute, Alissa had dropped into a small room with a small door and a table upon which sat a bottle and a key.

Alissa walked over to the table with the bottle and key. She took both in her hand and drank the bottle. Then she went over to the little door and shoved the key in the keyhole. She walked through the door. Compared to the giant flowers and mushrooms around her, she felt tiny. She walked over to one of the mushrooms and found a note that read, “Find the Queen of Hearts, chop of her head, and then you can go home. ~THE Cheshire Cat.”

Alissa dropped the note. She was supposed to chop of someone’s head? “How am I supposed to find the Queen of Hearts?” Alissa whispered to herself.

“I can help you with that!” said a voice behind her. Alissa spun around. Standing there was the weirdest looking man she had ever seen. That must be the Mad Hatter, considering the way my mother describes him, Alissa thought.

“What?” She took a small step away from the Mad Hatter.

“I said I could help you,” the Mad Hatter replied.

“Fine,” Alissa said stubbornly. “Where is the Queen of Hearts?”

“Follow me.” The Mad Hatter started walking toward a giant mushroom. He pulled open a little door in the mushroom and said, “Here you go.”

Alissa walked over to the mushroom and stepped inside. The door sealed shut behind her. There was a dim light coming from the ceiling. Alissa looked around. The colorful flowers were gone, and now everything was black and white. She stepped on something and heard a crunch. Looking down, she saw numerous bones lying on the floor. They were everywhere. Some of the bones even had flesh left on them. It was as if some sort of monster had been here, ripping apart people. The room was very narrow and turned at the end.

There was a very loud weeping sound. That must be the queen, Alissa thought. Alissa walked around the corner of the room and there was yet another sharp turn. She was in a maze, and the only way to get to the end was to find the way to the end. She walked over to a knife lying on the floor. “Just in case,” Alissa said to herself. Suddenly, she felt heat on her back like there was some sort of fire behind her.

Alissa slowly turned around and stood face to face with a large scaly dragon with seven heads. The last bit of light disappeared. Now it was just her and the dragon, one on one, in complete darkness. Alissa threw her knife at the dragon, but it just bounced off him and back onto the floor. She dove for her knife, but it was directly under the dragon. Grabbing her knife, Alissa looked up. She saw some sort of buckle. She reached up and unbuckled it. A layer of the dragons black slimy scales came off. 

Armor, Alissa thought. No wonder I couldn’t kill him. 

Alissa thrust her knife at the dragon, and it fell right over. Blood and guts spilled from it. Alissa stepped away from the dragon, but slipped on a puddle of blood.

Suddenly, a strange looking woman appeared and said, “Congratulations. You are the first to defeat Bonoface, the dragon. Many have tried, but you are the first to succeed. Now I will reward you by lighting up a path to direct you to the Queen of Hearts. Only an outsider can kill her.” The woman disappeared.

The maze started glowing. The weeping grew louder and the light grew brighter as Alissa ran through the maze. Finally, she came upon a woman sitting in a cell, weeping. Alissa opened the cell door and the Queen stood up. “I know what you’re here for. So, here, chop off my head,” the Queen said.

Alissa took her knife out of her belt and swung it across the queen’s neck. Instead of cutting off the queens head, the Cheshire cat appeared where the head should have been. “Goodie, Goodie,” the Cheshire cat said. “You received my note.”

“What do you want?” Alissa scowled at him.

“You completed my test! Just like your mother, Alice, you are very brave,”

“So you sent me down here to Wonderland just to complete a test?” Alissa snarled at him.

The Cheshire cat smiled slyly. “No, much more than that. We needed a human to kill Bonoface.”

“Why didn’t you just tell me?” Alissa asked.

“Because I knew you wouldn’t agree.” The Cheshire cat said, “Now we both get our wishes granted! You get to go home, and I get to be free of Bonoface controlling me!”

Smoke swirled around Alissa. With a flick of the Cheshire cat’s paw, Alissa was back in the garden in England right where her adventure began. 

Standing up, Alissa jogged toward her house. “You will never guess where I was!” she yelled “I was in Wonderland!”

– By Leigh Collins

A Book Report: Number the Stars

In Number the Stars by Louis Lowry, ten-year-old Annemarie and her friend Ellen Rosen are waiting for World War II to end. In Copenhagen, Denmark, everywhere they look, there is a Nazi soldier ready to mock them. The Jews are being killed day by day, and suddenly the Nazis find out Ellen is a Jew. Annemarie and her family do everything they can do to keep Ellen’s family safe. As Ellen tries to blend in to Annemarie’s family, both Ellen and Annemarie must learn courage and bravery if they want to survive.

This story begins when Ellen and Annemarie are walking home from school one day. When the girls are stopped by Nazi soldiers on the street, they see just how cruel the soldiers really are. Later in this book, Annemarie and Ellen move into Annemarie’s uncle’s house. There they learn to have faith and trust that everything will turn out okay. Another scene where Annemarie must practice bravery is when she is sent into the woods with a package to give to her uncle who is at the dock in his fishing boat, waiting to smuggle Ellen and her family out of Denmark. She doesn’t know what is in the package or where it came from. As she is delivering this package, the Nazi soldiers stop her. Annemarie decides to act immature like her little sister Kristi would act. Acting like this saves Ellen and other Jews and gets them safely to Sweden. 

 

In this book, I learned that we should always stand up for what is right, even if it means getting hurt. Louis Lowry made Annemarie a very lovable character, because she stood up for her friend no matter what happened to her. She made it so clear that you should be brave and stand up for what is right even if it means getting in trouble. This book is a page turner – it will leave readers wanting to keep reading until the very end of the book. Number the Stars has been given many awards including the Newberry Award Medal, and has been named the book of the year by the School Library Journal.  

– By Leigh Collins