The Red Badge of Courage by Stephen Crane

Young Henry Fleming had always dreamt of performing heroic deeds in battle. But as a raw recruit in the american civil war, the  reality is one of mental and physical torment. Throughout his first ordeal in action, Henry experiences both rear ans self-doubt, and has no idea whether war will make him a coward - or a hero.

Amazonia by James Rollins

The Rand scientific expedition enter the lush wilderness of the Amazon and Never returned. Years later, one of its members has stumbled out of the world's most inhospitable rain forest-a former Special Forces soldier, scarred, mutilated terrified, and mere hours from death, who went in with one arm missing... and came out with both intact. Unable to comprehend this inexplicable event, the government sends Nathan Rand into this impenetrable secret world of undreamed-perils, to follow the trail of his vanished father...toward mysteries that must be solved at any cost. But the nightmare that is awaiting Nate and his team of scientists and seasoned U.S Rangers dwarfs any danger the anticipated; an ancient, unspoken terror-a power beyond human imagining-that can forever alter the world beyond the dark, lethal confines of... Amazonia

Farmer Boy by: Laura Ingalls Wilder

This book is about a boy named Almanzo Wilder. The part i like in this book is when Almanzo gets the colt of his dreams. This is the most surprising part to me is because i would not think that he would actually get a colt at the age of 11. My favorite character is Almanzo because he is always doing something interesting in the book.

Serpent's Shawdow by Rick Riordan

I almost done with the book but a lot is happening.Carter, Sadie and there dad hoped on a boat and started paddeling away from the Serpent. Suddenly they found themselvs in the middle of danger. They saw the Serpent's Shadow. It was right in front of them.

The Shadow in the North

The year is 1878, and the spirited Sally Lockhart, once again defying Victorian sensibilities, has gone into business herself. When one of her clients loses a large sum of money in the unexpected collapse of a British shipping firm, Sally sets out to investigate. But as she delves deeper into the identity of  the wealthy and elusive industrialist who owns the doomed company, she uncovers a plot so diabolical that it could eventually subvert the entire civilized world--and if Sally's enemies have their way, she won't live long enough to see it happen.

Alex Rider: Scorpia Rising by Anthony Horowitz

Scorpia has dogged Alex Rider for most of his life. They killed his parent, they did their best to con Alex into turning traitor, and they just keep coming back with more power. Now the world's most dangerous terrorist organization is playing with fire in the world's most combustible land: the Middle East. No one knows Scorpia like Alex. And no one knows how to get to Alex like Scorpia. Until now.

This is the latest book in the Alex Rider series, but I've only read this one and the first one in the series but I'm looking forward to reading the other ones.

Continuity of the ATA Literature blog

Good morning,

I would like to let you all know why I keep sticking my nose into Missy's class 'business' i.e. the Lit Blog. A blog, like anything else on the Internet, is permanent and lasting.

I do encourage every Instructor to customize their class, and make it all their own, we do have guidelines for assignments, and assessment, etc., but they are actually really just guidelines!

I've noticed how proprietary I feel about the blog.  (Should that be proprietorially?)  I want to leave this behind us, much like our Legacy projects.  That is why I keep going back to the "rules".  

Now, I also have to remember, that like any other good piece of writing, or tangible item, our blog needs to be "living" to stay relevant while it lasts.  Constitutional Scholars say that the United States Constitution is a "living document", it changes as the needs of the people change and the law allows for such changes under very specific circumstances.  Sometimes those changes are not as great in hindsight as they were up front!  (The 18th Amendment for example!)

It is for the everlasting-ness that I am constantly referring to the rules of posting (and have now put that up as part of the header).  Since this blog has been through 5 different ATA English Instructors, if it is going to be continuous, I feel the format needs to remain consistent.

So, if we as a group decide the format of the blog needs to be changed, we certainly will address that.  However, until we decide that as a group (and ATA Instructors get veto power like the President, and I get the power of the Judiciary!), the format will remain.

Thank you, and please take pride in what you leave behind!  I know that I take pride in this blog and what you all leave behind.

Amanda

STARWARS THE PHANTOMMENACE

A long time ago in a galaxy far, far away, an evil legacy long believe dead is stirring. Even the jedi are caught by surprise, thare attention focused on the political unrest between the trade focused and republic. now the dark side of thr force threatens to overwhelm the light, and only an ancirent jedi prophecy stands between hope and doom for the entire galaxy. on the desert world of tatoonine, far from the concerns of the republic, a slave boy works by day and drams by night-of being a jedi khight and one day traveling the stars to worlds he's only heard of in stories...of finding a way to win freedoom from enslavement for himself and hi's beloved mother. His only hope lies in his extraordinary instincts and his strange gift for understanding the ''rightness'' of things, talents that allow him to be one of the best podracers on the planet.

Room by Emma Donoghue

To five-year-old-Jack, Room is the world. . . . It's where he was born, it's where he and his Ma eat and sleep and play and learn. At night, his Ma shuts him safely in the wardrobe, where he is meant to be asleep when Old Nick visits.

Room is home to Jack, but to Ma it's the prison where she has been held for seven years. Through her fierce love for her son, she has created a life for him in this eleven-by-eleven-foot space. But with Jack's curiosity building alongside her own desperation, she knows that Room cannot contain either much longer.

Room is a tale at once shocking, riveting, exhilarating—a story of unconquerable love in harrowing circumstances, and of the diamond-hard bond between a mother and her child.

Once again, the earth in under attack. Aliens "buggers" are poised for a final assault  The survival of the humans species depends on a military genius who can defeat the buggers.

Pendragon: The Merchant of Death D.J MacHale

Bobby Pendragon is a seemingly normal fourteen-year-old boy. He has a family, a home, and even Marley, his beloved dog. But there is something very special about Bobby.
He is going to save the world.
And not just Earth as we know it. Bobby is slowly starting to realize that life in the cosmos isn't quite what he thought it was. And before he can object, he is swept off to an alternate dimension known as Denduron, a territory inhabited by strange beings, ruled by a magical tyrant, and plagued by dangerous revolution.
If Bobby wants to see his family again, he's going to have to accept his role as savior, and accept it wholeheartedly. Because, as he is about to discover, Denduron is only the beginning....

I was hoping that this series would be about the Arthurian legend, but it is a good sci-fi/fantasy book if slightly confusing

The Serpent by Clive Cussler

On the bottom of the icy sea off Nantucket lies the battered remains of the Italian luxury liner, Andrea Doria. But few know that within its bowels rests a priceless pre-Columbian antiquity-- a treasure that now holds the key to a puzzle that is costing people their lives
For Kurt Austin, the leader of a courageous National Underwater Marine Agency (NUMA) exploration team, the killing begins when he makes a daring rescue of a beautiful marine archaeologist. The target of a powerful Texas industrialist named Halcon, Nina Kirov was attacked off the coast of Morocco after her discovery of a carved stone head that may prove to be Christoper Columbus was not the first European to discover America. Soon Kurt and Nina embark on a deadly mission to uncover Halcon's masterful plan-- an insidious scheme that would have him carve out a new nation from the southwest United States and Mexico, and ride to power on a wave of death and destruction.
With Austin's elite NUMA crew attacking the murderous conspiracy from different sides, an extraordinary truth emerges: that Columbus may have made a fifth, unknown voyage to America in search of a magnificent  treasure. And that the silent. steel hull of the Andrea Doria not only holds the answer to what the explorer may have found--but thee fate of the United State itself.

Inheritance by Christopher Paolini

This is the 4th book in the Inheritance series. Previous to this I read the first three books then stopped. I knew the 4th one had come out, but for some reason I did not get my hands on it and read it. AS i recall I hardly finished the 3rd one. Now I have given in, and I am enjoying this book very much. Thanks Dustin for letting me borrow your copy.

The Serpent's Shadow By Rick Riordan,

Carter and Sadie just found there dad. But now they have to get out of egypt before The evil ghost of egypt finds them.

A Compendium of Indispensable Facts

A Compendium of Indispensable Facts boast's a huge area of factiods*

Factoid: Factoid is not a real word.

Including but not limited to:

• Six actors played The Three Stooges
•  Peladophobia is a fear of bald people
• Quarks(Sub-atomic particle and bottle top:) come in six flavors
• There are seven types of sea serpent
• St.Clotilde is the patron saint of disapointing children

And many, many more funny, satirical, and interesting facts, in this Compendium of Indispensable Facts!

Oliver Twist by Charles Dickens

One of the great novelist's most popular works, Oliver Twist is also the purest distillation of Dickens' genius. Abandoned at an early age, Oliver Twist is forced to live in a dark and dismal London workhouse lorded over by awful Mr. Bumble who cheats the boys of their meager rations! Desperate but determined, Oliver makes his escape. But what he discovers in the harsh streets of London's underworld makes the workhouse look like a picnic. Penniless and alone, he is lured into a world of crime by the wily Fagin--the nefarious mastermind of a gang of pint-sized pickpockets, runs away to London where he is captured by thieves and finally escapes...

The Hunger Games Book 2: Catching Fire By: Suzanne Collins

Sparks are igniting
Flames are spreading
And the Capitol wants revenge

           Against all odds, Katniss has won the Hunger Games. She and fellow District 12 tribute Peeta Mellark are miraculously still alive.  Katniss should be relieved, happy even. After all, she has returned to her family and her longtime friend, Gale.  Yet nothing is the way Katniss wishes it to be.  Gale holds her a an icy distance. Peeta has turned his back on her completely. And there are whispers of a rebellion against the Capitol-A rebellion that Katniss and Peeta may have helped create.

        Much to her shock, Katniss has fueled an unrest shes's afraid she cannot stop. And what scares her even more is that she's not entirely convinced she should try.  As time draws near for Katniss and Peeta to visit the districts on the Capitol's cruel Victory Tour, the stakes are higher than ever.  If they can't prove, without a shadow of doubt, that they are lost in their love for each other, the consequences will be horrifying.

1984 BY GEORGE ORWELL

War is peace. Freedom is slavery. And big brother is watching..... THOUGHT POLICE. BIG BROTHER. ORWELLIAN. well i don`t like it at all because how he put it in words. so its a vary confusing book For me.

Redwall by Brain Jacques

Welcome to Mossflower Wood, where the gentle mice have gathered to celebrate a year of peace and abundance.  All is well. . . until a sinister shadow falls across the ancient stone abbey of Redwall.

THE DOOMSDAY KEY By James Rollins

At princeton University, a famed geneticest dies inside a biohazard lab. In Rome, a Vatican archaeolagist is found dead in St. Perers Basilica. In africa, a U.s. senators son is slain outside a Red Cross camp. The three murders on three contanents bear a horrifyig connection: all the victims are marked by a Druidei pagan cross vurned into their flesh.   I liked the book because it was a horror book!  The plot never stopped it just kept it constent. " he ran up a random guy in the mall and slit his throwt and that was the end of that guy"