Elvis Presley by Tony Gentry January 21, 2010

          Elvis was the start of rock and roll. He was the one who rebeled against the music types that parents excepted and made his own kind of music that didn’t copy other style of music. He didn’t copy them, but he merged them together into one.Rock and roll was born.

          Elvis’s childhood was a rough one.To start, his family was pretty poor. What some people don’t know is that he had a twin brother. Unfortunetly, his brother died shortly after birth. He quickly became used to going to his brother Jesse’s grave on his birthday. He believed he was special because he had survived birth when his brother had’nt. His mother apairently believed the same, because she protected him from anything that might hurt him. Phisically or mentally. He was every thing to her. And she was everything to him.

           Elvis went to Humes high school in Memphis, where he had moved a few years before. He was bullied alot because he dressed different than the kids in his town. But he made it through his first year. And that summer, with a little cash in his pocket, he died his hair black ( by the way, he had hair the color of sand), and started collecting rythm and blues records. He stunned the highschool girls when he came back to school when summer ended.

           Elvis’s career began with Sun studio owner Sam Phillips when he finally got the courage to go there a second time after his first try and fail. This time it was Phillips who was recording. This time Phillips liked it and he started a band with Elvis as head singer with guitarists Scotty Moore. Soon Elvis’s old friend, Bass player Bill Black jioned them. They sang lots of differant kinds of styles of singing, but Phillips wasn’t impressed. When they were taking a break, Elvis started singing a blues song ” Thats all right mama”. Phillips asked what it was from the control room and Elvis just shrugged. Now Phillips had the song he was looking for.It was because of that song that Elvis Presley became famous.

          Once Elvis was famous, he got a manager named Tom Parker. But Parker’s name wasn’t even Tom Parker. Born Andreas Cornelius van Kuijk in Holland, Parker was living illegally in the united states. But Parker didn’t turn out to be too bad of a manager. In that same year of 1956, Elvis starred in three hollywood movies. These turned out great for his career. He went on lots of tours all over the united states to show america what his music was like.

           In the following years, other rock and roll bands would form, and Elvis started to lose his crown as king of rock and roll as bands such as the Beatles began playing his type of music.In 1968, musical producer Steve Binder asked Elvis to appear on a christmas special. Elvis hadn’t been on TV in years, why start now? So Binder dared Elvis to to take a walk down Sunset Boulevard in Los Angeles to see if anybody would notice him. Elvis argued that he would be flooded with fans. Binder said ” Wanna Bet?”. Elvis was curios about what he was up to, so he agreed to go. The next day, Elvis, Binder, and several bodyguards took a walk on the sunset strip. Not a single person reconized Elvis. He had been away from his fans and now people did’nt know who he was. When they all got back into his cadillac, Elvis asked Binder what he had in mind for the special. He told him, then Elvis said ” Lets do it.” .

           Elvis had won back his crown, But was losing his health. He had to take pills to make up for sleep and healthy food which he had missed on his tours. Also he had gained weight that made him take even more drugs. On June 26,1977 in mrket square Arena, Indeanapolis, Elvis gave his last performance. He may have been dying, but his voice was still amaizing. On August 16, 1977, Elvis passed away. The doctors said he had died of a heart attack, but later they found out that at least 10 prescription drugs were found in his blood that had killed him. Although Elvis is dead, his music still inspires people today. Some people call his music rock and roll. Elvis Presly called it music.

Michelangelo by Barbara Somervill January 8, 2010

     Michelangelo was a fantastic artist. He created many paintings and sculptures in his life time. He lived during the Renaissance movement. During his lifetime , many historical and important events happened. He will always be remembered.

     Michelangelo was born is 1475 and died in 1564. During his lifetime, a ”rebirth”of interest in the arts surfaced. His family consisted of  five sons. There was Lionardo, Michelangelo, Buonarroto, Giavansimone, and Gismondo. He was born in Caprese , Italy on March 6. When he was only six-years-old, his mom died and his dad, Lodovico,had to take care of five kids by himself. As a child, he lived on a farm with his family.

     Most of Michelangelo’s adult life, he lived in Florence, Italy with his wife and child. At first he was a painter and then it led to him creating sculptures! He got bored of painting, so he started  sculpting. At first people hated his art and would make fun of him. But Michelangelo loved it so much, he even used his food money to buy art supplies. He would go days without eating. One of his most famous sculptures was the Statue of David, made in 1504. February 18th was a sad day in Rome. This was the day Michelangelo died.

     The book about Michelangelo was a good book. One thing I liked, was it discussed other things that happened during his lifetime. The thing I didn’t like, was it was a bit too much like a history book, not a biography. Although this is not the genre I wound typically pick, it was a good book for the topic. I also liked that there was a timeline in the back to help me keep track of the order of events. I would recommend this book to anyone who is interested in the history of art.

Derek Jeter On and Off the Field by Tom Robinson January 8, 2010

     When Derek Jeter was young his dream was to be on the Yankees baseball team. One night Derek’s parents, Charles and Dorothy Jeter told eight year old Derek to get into bed. But he didn’t want to, he wanted to talk to his parents about his dream of becoming a baseball player for the Yankees. He told his parents about his plans and they decided to help him. They set rules for him that taught him responsibility. He had to do chores, homework, and sports practice before anything else.

     The hard work and chores paid off. When he was in high school, scouts from the Yankees heard about an excellent  player named Derek Jeter. They went to Kalamazoo, Michigan just to see him play. They saw he had a strong-arm so they tested him with radar guns. He was so good he was voted best high school baseball player in the country. One day he got a phone call from a Yankee manager. He had been selected to play fo the Yankees.

     Since he only started in the middle of the season, he didn’t get to play a lot. And the games he did play in he messed up in. He was so stressed he went to his hotel and cried every night. One month he had called his parents and cried to them so much his phone bill was over $3,000! when he finally got used to the tough games he was one of the best shortstop players the Yankees ever had.One day his dad came to visit him. Derek told his dad about a foundation he wanted to start, called the turn 2 foundation. The Jeter family started the business. The turn 2 foundation is a program that teaches kids to stay away from drugs and alcohol. The program is still running today. Now Derek Jeter is very important to the Yankees. He is their new captain.

     This is a great book. It is a sports story but also an inspirational story. It teaches you about lessons in life. I recommend this book to people who like sports and to anyone who needs an inspiration. I really enjoyed this book. Savannah Brancato

Thomas Jefferson January 8, 2010

               Over the past few weeks I read the book Thomas Jefferson. Of couse, the main character in this story is Thomas Jefferson. He was a good and loyal President to the United States of America. His life was pretty interesting, so lets get started.

              Thomas Jefferson always wanted to be president when he grew up. He was born  April 13, 1743  in Monticello, Virgina. He had a mom and a dad. There names were Jane Randolph and Peter Randolph .  Later when he was ten, he started attending the Virgina church more often. He made friends and he attended school. Later in his early 20′s he built a house that he said he would live in that house till the day he died. The house (or masion) was named after his home town, Monticello. Now it stand as a national monument. Thats Thomas Jeffersons eary childhood.

               Later in his life he wrote one of the most famos documents ever known to man. Its called the DECLERATION OF INDEPENDANCE. It took jim years to write it. After giving a speech, the president election was up. He won!  A few years later he bought one of the largest pieces ever. It was the Lousiana purchase. It neary doubled the size of our country we know today. After winning the war with Britian, He retired from office. He spent the rest of his life living in Monticello with wife and writing books.. After she died, he was depressed and only one more book before he died on July 4, 1826.

                  I recomend this book to people who like really good presidents. Also to people who like history books.  Thats who I recomend this book to.

                                                                                                                Summary By: Nikolas Malachowski

Escape! The Story of The Great Houdini By Fleischman Sid January 8, 2010

This story starts with a great magician, and escape artist. He could get out of anything that you put him in. In hand cuffs a tank full of water with a lock on top, and even a STRAIGHT JACKET!                                                                      

But after a performence of his, he was reclining  couch of his with an art student sketching him. A student with houdini’s permission he asked if he could soccer punch him in the stomach.

I recommend this book for anyone who like stories of escape artists or magicians!