blog#2

I am reading the best book ever! It is by Gennifer Choldenko. It is the best! Right now they are exploring Moose’s house for information about who burned down his house. (he is the co-warden’s son) They ( Piper, Jimmy, Thea, Moose, and annie.) found Jane abacus's pixie house that was part way burnt. After that, they went to Piper’s house so they could use the information that they had gathered from Moose’s house to solve the mystery. They all think it was one of the convicts (the ‘cons’) 0r a team of them. But I don’t think it was one of the cons because if they were caught escaping from ALCATRAZ to get to Moose’s house, they would have a very harsh penalty. They would either get a ball and chain for 3 months or get killed.

My connection is text to experience because this past Spring Break, I visited Alcatraz and saw Moose’s house. This book is based on a true story. And I even saw the burned house! I was surprised that they didn’t take down the house because Darby Trixle (he is one of the many many guards at Alcatraz) said that it was too dangerous for kids to enter. I was astonished how many cells there were and how empty it was. The sound of footsteps echoed through the cell house. There are three levels of cells, so the convicts on the top row have a very difficult time getting out. There were only three people who ever escaped successfully, although a lot of people tried and either gave up or died.

Now that the characters have formed a group I think that one of the themes is teamwork\cooperation. The five friends are working together to solve the mystery. And another theme is friendship because they are helping their friend Moose.