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=Reading task 1 term 4 2009=

Twelve-year-old Rex is living during World War II in Kettle Creek, New Zealand. When his mother tells him an American is coming to stay with them for two weeks to recover from his war wounds, Rex is delighted. He imagines sharing his bedroom with a pilot whose plane was shot down while flying or someone who’s a colonel. But then Jackson Coop arrives. Not only is Jack just a private, but he is also black, which means he has even less status than the Maoris and Dalmatians who are considered the lower classes. Worst of all, Jack admits to being afraid of war and guns. Slowly, Rex finds out that Jack is actually a really cool companion, a person who would rather avoid a fight but also protects those weaker than him. When Jack goes into hiding, Rex allies with Dawn, a girl who is part Maori, and Leo, a Dalmatian to hide Jack. Rex’s family is rather interesting and that adds character to the book. Rex's father sells black market items and the village policeman, Bob Davies is always on the lookout to catch him. Dawn loves her grandmother although she drove Dawn's mother away and waters the milk she sells to their neighbors. Rex's mother writes poetry; his grandmother rides a motorcycle and gardens naked; his grandfather makes flawed inventions like an amphibian car that sinks.

I found this book interesting due to what the different characters did but overall it was not a great one. Maurice Gee uses good descriptive language and I found it built a reasonable picture in my head without the aid of illustrations. Nevertheless it was not great but I felt that it has improved in other books she has written closer to this date.

However it did not affect my emotions much and unlike the //whale rider// in which the ending saddened me this ending to me just said oh, the book’s finished. Now what shall I read? Also, it did not look very appealing when I took it off the shelf maybe due to the fact that the book and cover design are quite old. Also, this book did not really make you feel part of the families’ life. Instead it is just a recap of what happened in those 2 weeks the story covered.

I think I would give this book a 6.5/10 because as said before it didn’t look very appealing and it didn’t pull you into the life of the characters much. That said, this book, in my opinion, would be suitable for people aged 10-13 who enjoy most books even if they are not that great.

=Reading task 2 term 3 2009= media type="custom" key="4404427" My Reflection:I think that this glogster book review does not completely integrate the visual aspect of it but instead just is a plain book review with a background and a few animated things. I also think that the review itself could have been better had I understood the book more.

=Reading task 1 Term 3 2009=

The Whale Rider


 * Author: Witi Ihimaera**
 * Published: First published in 1987 by Reed books**
 * ISBN: 0 7900 0869 6**
 * Genre: Fictional story based on a legend**
 * Number of pages: 152 including 4 page glossary**

The Whale Rider is about a Maori family living in a place called Whangara near Gisborne. The book starts with an introduction about how the life principle came to New Zealand. It came in the form of wooden spears thrown by the original whale rider. The spears are called Mauri which then flew to the land and sea to become pigeons and eels. Then a little girl named Kahu is born and loves a bald toothless guy who is the leader of the Marae and is called Koro Apirana. There is one problem however; the Koro does not like Kahu and did not even want her to be named Kahu. Kahu is named after the whale rider whose name was Kahutia Te Rangi. As Kahu grows up she does not live in Whangara but visits every holidays. Eventually whales start beaching themselves for unknown reasons in another town not far away from Whangara. Later the whales beach themselves in Whangara and even the particular whale the original whale rider rode beaches itself. Legend says that if the tribe does not return the whale to the sea Maori Dom will fail but if they succeed the Maori culture will survive. Originally they fail in the task when the ropes around the tail of the whale snap. However Kahu has somehow made it into the sea unnoticed and swims out to the whale. What Kahu then does and what happens in the rest of the story is for you to find out when you read the book yourself.

I think that The Whale Rider is a very interesting and well written book. It is very well thought through and is quite powerful in its message. From my point of view it describes scenes very well with not too many adjectives but illustrates the setting and atmosphere of the village convincingly. I also like the way that it is based on the Maori culture and that it uses quite a few Maori words to describe things. Furthermore I am of the opinion that the writer did an incredible job in writing this book in just three weeks. It is excellent that this book, with lots of words in an uncommon language, has a glossary to describe the meaning of them. Even though a lot of Maori words are used it is easy to understand most words from the text around them, meaning that the Maori words are in the right places in the book.

On the other hand I found that when I started the book I couldn’t really follow the plot. I almost stopped reading because it was a bit confusing at first and not that interesting yet; however I later realized that that part was essential to understand the book. In conclusion I believe that this is a great book which is suitable for anyone to read from the age of 11 and would give it a 9.5/10 rating.