Daughter of Smoke and Bone (Chapters 19-27)

    At the start of chapter 19, Karou is attacked. Her patron saves her, but not without heavy wounds. Angry, he throws her out, even though she is injured. Her friends try to help her, but as they are of another world, they can not. Karou ends up with her friends but can't shake the feeling that she is being watched. She then meets Akiva and they begin to fight.
    A term I learned was incendiary. Incendiary is a device of attack designed to cause fires. Akiva was going to use one of the demons but was convinced otherwise by the girl he once loved. An example of incendiary is as follows. "The incendiary is ready, ma'am," Tyler said with a salute, and together, he and Captain Ruth watched the world burn.

Daughter of Smoke and Bone (Chapters 11- 19)

    At the start of chapter 11, Karou is rushed back to her home in another world and is surprised to find relief and surprise in her patron's speech when he sees her. Then she is handed another assignment to a place she hasn't been to in a long time. Her last visit ended in being shot and a pile of dead girls. The chapters continue about her last adventure until we meet Akiva, the angel who was burning in his handprint, and we see how he is talking to a Fallen Angel. At the end of chapter 18, the Fallen Angel grabs Akiva and throws them off of the top of a building.
    I learned the term encumbered. Encumber means to restrict of burden in such a way that free action or movement is difficult. An example of this is as follows. The man encumbered Gracie in his grasp and threw her into the back of his truck, meaning to haul her away forever.

Daughter of Smoke and Bone (Chapters 1-11)

    At the beginning of Daughter of Smoke and Bone, Karou is walking to school when her ex-boyfriend jumps out of an alley at her, trying to scare her, and fails miserably. They get into a fight and that leads to him showing up in her art class as a naked model for everyone to draw. She wishes itches upon him in ungodly places and then Karou and her friend go to their favorite fast food place and discuss upcoming projects. At nearly the same time, an angel is burning his handprint into the doors that lead to demon worlds.
    I learned the term berated. Berated means to be scolded or criticized angrily. Karou was being scolded by her patron because she was always complaining about the jobs he gave her. She was also criticized by her friend because of her hair and the fact that she had once gone out with a mean and disturbingly beautiful man who was a few years older than them.

Movenote Closing

http://www.movenote.com/v/v7P-Eufzbyg?integration=embed&scale=100

The Scorch Trails (Chapters 23-29)

    In the beginning of chapter 23, Thomas awakes from his dream to find that a storm is coming. Waking everyone up, they beginning running in the direction of shelter just as they stumble across and old and half dead man. The man will only talk to Thomas and warns him of bad people and a horrible storm on their way. Then the storm begins. White lightning, great gusts of wind, and grainy dirt fly at the group of 18 as they run. No rain falls, but each lightning strike hits the ground. By the time they reach shelter, seven people were hit and Minho was set on fire but saved by Thomas. Falling asleep, they wake up to find Cranks in their building. Minho starts a fight with the leader and Thomas steps in, saving all of their lives. Together, the leader and Thomas talk about their experiences and reasons why the Cranks should keep them alive. Thomas succeeds and the leader leads all of his followers away except one, Brenda, and feed Thomas and the rest of the group. At the end of chapter 29, the ceiling collapses, separating Thomas from his friends and the leader of the Cranks, leaving him with Brenda. 

    A conflict every character must face his man versus world. The world is slowly trying to kill everyone off, either with the storms or the Flare. It's every man for himself and if you're even a few feet behind one person, you're a goner. Each person, Crank or otherwise, are fighting each other, animals, climate, and diseases. 

The Scorch Trails (Chapters 17-22)

    At the beginning of chapter 17, Thomas, Minho, and Newt are walking out of the dark hallway and into the extremely hot desert. They find that they must place sheets over their bodies to protect themselves from the sun and the rest of the group follows their lead. They travel for a couple of hours before hearing a girl's loud shrieks. They rest for a couple hours and after they continue, they happen upon the first building in a large and abandoned town. There, a familiar girl, Teresa, steps out from behind the building and Thomas has a meeting with her himself. He finds that he must run away from her because she seems possessed and was part of a trap. Chapter 22 ends with Thomas dreaming about an his childhood with Teresa, where he learns to communicate with her through their minds.
    A vocab word that was new to me was gales. Gales means a very strong gust of wind or a burst of sound. In my book, it meant a very strong gust of wind. An example of a burst of sound may be "Cory let out a gale of laughter, surprising the entire group during our most solemn of all days."

The Scorch Trails (Chapters 13-17)

At the beginning of chapter 13, Thomas and everybody else who escaped the Maze are getting ready to go to the Scorch Trails. At exactly 6, they must pass through a portal. When they do, they find themselves in darkness and in a hallway of some sort. As they travel through it, they are attacked by burning metal masses that bite into your skin and decapitate you. At the end of 17, Thomas saves another kid from being killed by pulling it off.
    A text to text connection is the Hunger Games and the Scorch Trails because in both books, the characters must compete to win. If they lose, they die. If they win, they live. Both books are also very action-packed and exciting.

The Amazing Play

Mr. Faris and actors/actresses,
     I absolutely loved your play! It was put together beautifully and you all did so well! The characters came to life before my eyes. Not only were your costumes amazing, but your accents and your great deal of emotion were gorgeous! You made the play so enjoyable. I loved some parts more than others, but each scene was well thought out, there were amazing props, and all very well practiced. Every actor and actress did a wonderful job, the stage hands were quick and efficient, costume designers were amazing, and prop makers were very stunning!
     I have to say, I was impressed with the Chinese. You were all very memorized and convincing! It must have been very difficult, so I thank you for putting time and effort into it. Millie did a fantastic job! I love your voice, as I loved all of your voices, and I'm awed! I could never put myself in that position, so you have become a hero to me. You all have. Mr. Faris, I believe you should award everyone who took part in this play. Not only were they stunning, they were entertaining, convincing, memorized, and all became true actors and actresses! I really hope you all pursue an acting career.

Who's the Real Monster?

     As Richard (Bobo) Evans, 22, walks up to the stand to be questioned for his crime, we learn that Bobo was in jail for three years and arrested for breaking and entering, grand theft auto, selling drugs, taking a car radio, and fighting a guy who died. The prosecution in this case is using Bobo as a valuable witness, questioning him in front of the judge and jury is attorney Sandra Petrocelli. Bobo was involved in a robbery that took place at Alguinaldo Nesbitt’s drugstore located in Harlem. Petrocelli asks Bobo what happened on the 22nd of December, he replied with “Me and King planned out a get over (the drugstore) and we done it.” So this witness admits to being at the scene of the drugstore when the store owner, Nesbitt, was killed during the process of the murder.  

      In Bobo’s testimony he indicates that he and three other men committed this crime including Osvaldo Cruz, fourteen year-old gang member, and James King and Steve Harmon, both on trial for felony murder. Bobo claims that Mr. Nesbitt was the individual who pulled out the gun, but that King must have fired the shot, with Nesbitt’s gun, and killed the drugstore owner. “King was trying to get the gun from him and I was going for the money. Then I heard the gun go off. I looked over and and saw the guy falling down and King was holding the chrome,” Bobo testifies that this is what took place on December 22nd in Alguinaldo Nesbitt’s drugstore. 
Update from July 16th

Steve’s testimony- Steve states that he has nothing to do with the crime. He is saying he barely knows Bobo and King and Cruz. But he still does talk to them a little bit. During cross, he is asked many questions that seem to help his side.

Moore- Moore is trying to help her cousin by using a lamp saying that he gave her the lamp instead of being at the crime scene, but she said that the lamp had broken and she doesn’t have it anymore.

Nipping- Briggs ask Nipping if King is left or right handed to see if the side the wound was on would match, but it doesn't match, unless he’s lying.

The Summary

In the beginning of the book we are introduced to sixteen year old Steve Harmon who is being charged with involuntary manslaughter and may face capital punishment. He is on trial throughout the story and he is on the defense side of the case. Bobo Evans, James King and Osvaldo Cruz, who is in the Mexican gang Diablos, were a part of this stick up. Bobo Evans and Bolden were barely acquaintances, but Bobo offered a deal to Wendell Bolden for cartons of cigarettes from the robbery. Bolden told Zinzi and Zinzi used the information to get himself out of jail. So the two robbers and their two accomplices were brought into court so the jury could give them a final verdict. On the prosecution side Sandra Petrocelli tries to get the jury to believe that Steve and King viciously murdered Alguinaldo Nesbitt. Petrocelli as well as O’Brien and Briggs uses testimonies to convince the judge that their witnesses are innocent.