A Wrinkle In Time

 Title: A Wrinkle In Time By Madeleine L’Engle

What is it About? The main character in this book is Meg. She has a little brother. He sees things differently than Meg. They learn about three mystical creatures who travel in a strange way. They travel using what is called "tesser". This is how it works. Let’s say a very small insect walked along this line:
                               This would be a long trip. But if we folded this line, then the insect could walk to the other end without taking so much time. That is how these creatures travel. Meg’s brother gets captured by a creature called IT. Meg tries to rescue her brother from IT.

What Did I Like About This Book? I liked that this was a sci-fi book. It had aliens and different planets. It also had a little bit of science, math, and logic involved. (Like the insect example above)

What Didn't I Like About This Book? Sometimes the science became overwhelming. Also, the book was too fast-paced for me. The story went by too fast.

Does This Belong On My Cool Lane Or Not? Well, yes it sure is! But A Wrinkle In Time needs to watch out for the speed limit.

Where the Red Fern Grows

Title: Where the Red Fern Grows by Wilson Rawls

What is it About? When you were a little kid, didn’t you really want a dog? Well, this book is about a boy named Billy. He really wants two hounds for hunting. However, his family does not have enough money. Also, the dogs are very far away. But, he does not give up. He picks fruit and sells it to the farmers. Cent by cent the money adds up. Finally, he gets the money that he needs to buy the hounds. He starts the 22 mile walk to pick up his dogs. He goes home and starts hunting. He has a lot of fun, but his life takes a downward turn. 

What Did I Like About This Book? This book shows the value of hard work, and the rewards that come with it. It also shows that in life, bad things can happen.

What Didn't I Like About This Book? The ending was really sad. Also, I didn't feel like the title fit this book.

Does This Belong On My Cool Lane Or Not? Except for the ending, this was a really good book!

The Phantom Tollbooth

Title: The Phantom Tollbooth by Norton Juster

What is it About?  A boy named Milo sits in his room, bored. He is always bored. He finds a package in his room and he opens it. He puts the contents of the package together. When he puts it together, he makes a car and a tollbooth. He dejectedly gets in the car and drives to the tollbooth. Instantly he is in a magical world where nothing seems to be right. Words are mixed up, sayings have literal meanings, and there is an island called Jumping to Conclusions. How do you get there? Exactly! What you just did! You jumped to the conclusion that to get to Jumping to Conclusions, you have to jump to a conclusion! He also meets a watchdog, Tock, who ticks. This story is about Milo's adventure in this new place.

What Did I Like About This Book? I liked that this book was all over the place. Normally I don’t like when books do that, but this book did it in an organized way.

What Didn't I Like About This Book? I didn’t like that this book had a “The End” sort of feel to it that the teachers are telling us not to use. 

Does This Belong On My Cool Lane Or Not? This book should definitely be on My Cool Lane.

Tuck Everlasting

Title: Tuck Everlasting by Natalie Babbit

What is it About? A girl named Winnie Foster is bored with her life. So, she runs away in search of adventure. She goes through the woods and finds a boy drinking out of a spring on the ground. She asks the boy how old he his. He says that he is 104. He then hastily says that he is actually 17. Winnie says that she is thirsty and approaches the stream. The boy is alarmed and protests. His family appears out of the woods and takes Winnie away. What will happen next? Will Winnie be rescued? Who are these people?

What Did I Like About This Book? I like the life lesson that Winnie learns. Also, throughout the book, I wanted to keep reading, but at the end the book had a sense of finality. I felt satisfied with the ending of the story. 

What Didn't I Like About This Book? I didn’t like that it was a little sad at the end.

Does This Belong On My Cool Lane Or Not? I liked the plot of this book. I have learnt from my teachers about using "Show, Don't Tell" but here, the ending was "Told" in clear words. This book is fine by me, but it will be under strict watch by My Cool Lane Police forces.

Chasing Lincoln's Killer

Title: Chasing Lincoln’s Killer by James L. Swanson

What is it About? It is about, as implied in the title, chasing Lincoln’s killer. We know that John Wilkes Booth assassinated President Lincoln after the Civil War was over and the Confederacy had lost. (And if you don’t, well now you do!)Booth was upset that the Confederacy had lost the war. So, while Lincoln was watching a play, Booth took out a knife and his famous Deringer Pistol, and shot the president in the head with one shot. Then, he quickly fled the building. He also had other people in his team who at almost the same time, attempted to assassinate other important people from the Union. Booth then ran down South with his accomplices, because he would find comfort in the South. But, did he ever get caught? If so, what punishment did he face? Read this book and find out.

What Did I Like About This Book? I liked how the author specifically described what was going on. It made me feel as if I was actually there. I also had to point out that most of the books on my Cool Lane are either fantasy or realistic fiction. I don’t usually like non-fiction books. But, I really liked this book. I think that it is because the way the author wrote this book has sort of a storytelling voice that makes it sound adventurous.

What Didn't I Like About This Book? There is nothing in this book that I don’t like.

Does This Belong On My Cool Lane Or Not? Uh, yes, I believe so.

Flush

Title: Flush by Carl Hiaasen

This is another book from the set of books my teacher gave me to read. 4 more to go!

What is it About? The main character of this book is called Noah. Noah's father is in jail because he sunk a man’s boat. No, his dad is not crazy! His dad is just a person who cares about the environment. The man whose boat got sunk is called Dusty Muleman. His boat is a gambling boat with a bathroom. Before Dusty goes home, he is supposed to empty his used toilet water into a tank so that the lake doesn’t get dirty. This costs a lot of money and time to do, but Dusty is required to do this by law. Noah’s dad thinks that Dusty is directly emptying his sewage into the lake to save money and so he sinks Dusty's boat and lands up in jail. In jail, Noah’s dad interviews with news channels, because he thinks that he is going to jail for a good reason. He even compares himself to Nelson Mandela. Then, Noah and his sister investigate if Dusty really is polluting the lake. What happens next? Does Dusty pour his sewage into the lake?

What Did I Like About This Book? I like the realism of this book. This book is really funny, and I can imagine every scene happening.

What Didn't I Like About This Book?  I can't think of anything that I did not like. 

Does This Belong On My Cool Lane Or Not? It's a little obvious, isn't it?

The Mostly True Adventures of Homer P. Figg

Title: The Mostly True Adventures of Homer P. Figg by Rodman Philbrick

 

This is the second book I read from the set of books my teacher let me borrow.

 

What is it About? This book is about a boy named Homer. It is set during the American Civil War. Homer has an uncle who illegally sold Homer’s brother to the North, or the Union. (They are the people who wanted slavery abolished). Homer runs away in search of his brother. Along the way, he meets many people, tricksters, and scallywags. He also meets some friends and nice people. He finally gets some clues that lead him to The Battle of Gettysburg. He finds his brother in the war. But is he too late? I won’t tell you. You have to read the book yourself.

What Did I Like About This Book?  I liked the feeling of adventure in this book. I’ve read books a lot longer than this one. However, I haven’t read a lot of books in which there is such a long plot line. Problems, Solutions, and Problems again. It was also very funny. If you are a reader who loves laughing and at the same time learning about what life was like during the Civil War, you will love this book.

What Didn't I Like About This Book? I didn't like the part where Homer's brother gets sold to the Union. I know the author wrote that to made the plot make sense, but it was still sad. Something else that is sad is that during the Civil War times, these kind of things really did happen. I am very glad that that is something that does not happen now.

Does This Belong On My Cool Lane Or Not? In school, we learn something called context clues. It means that when you read something you don’t understand, you look around the context in order to figure it out. How about you try this out? Look around this post and see if you can figure out this mystery: Is this book on my Cool Lane?

Anything But Typical

Title: Anything but Typical by Nora Raleigh Baskin

Why I Started to Read This Book: At home, I was running out of books to read. At school, my teacher gave me a pile of books to read. She told me to read a book and tell her how that book was.  So guess what I did? I’m writing on my blog and sending the link to her. Anyway, Anything But Typical was in that pile of books.

What is it About? It is about a twelve-year old autistic kid. His name is Jason. He writes stories on a website called StoryBoard where a lot of other people can read them. On his website, he writes a story, and a kid whose online name is PhoenixBird, replies back to him. She really likes his stories. The two exchange their writing. Jason discovers that her real name is Rebecca. He really wants to meet her. However, he is also terrified. He is afraid that she will only see his autism, not who he really is. Jason decides to go to that year’s StoryBoard Convention. He finds out that Rebecca is also going. What happens next? Read Anything But Typical to find out.

What Did I Like About This Book? I liked how this book was from Jason’s point of view. He had challenges that autistic kids could have. And I am not talking about the symptoms, but about how the world perceives him. If you are a reader who likes unique books of realistic fiction, you will love this book. 

What Didn't I Like About This Book? Nothing.

Does This Belong On My Cool Lane Or Not? I think this book would be in the Unique part of My Cool Lane!

The Best Pizza Store Near Me

There are two things almost every kid likes to eat: ice cream(or FroYo) aaand? You got it! PIZZA!! Last summer, I wrote a blog post about my favorite FroYo place near me. One of my favorite parts about that post was eating all that ice cream. So, I did a similar research about pizza. I chose from four stores near me that serve REAL ITALIAN cheese pizza. Lots of restaurants have what they call pizza. But really, it’s not pizza. It’s more like a salty and cheesy doughnut which is great, but it is not pizza. But now is not the time to discuss that. The four stores I picked are Fratelli’s Pizza, Panatieri’s Pizza, Stelton Pizza, and Villa Pizza. I compared their prices for their medium pizzas and judged them on their taste. For taste, I judged the cheese, Sauce, Base (bottom of pizza), crust, and the overall taste. 

Stelton Pizza ($11 for a medium pizza)

When I bit into the pizza, I found that the cheese on this pizza was very stretchy and yummy.  There was a good amount of the sauce, and it tasted like good tomatoes.  The base was thin and chewy. The crust was very well-cooked, almost so cooked that it was crunchy. The pizza smelt delicious! I found that the oil was literally dripping off the pizza in a small stream which was just too much for me. I really liked the air bubbles in the dough. Even though the sauce was tasty, and the cheese was fresh, the grease was a too much for me.

Villa Pizza ($11.77 for a medium pizza)

 This pizza was very similar to the Stelton Pizza. The cheese on the pizza was very tasty, stretchy and stringy. I could taste the fresh herbs very well in the tomato sauce. There was a pleasant amount of it. The base was a little bit too chewy for me. However, it was not too thick which made the balance between the cheese, sauce and base perfect. The crust was crunchy and delicious. It was cooked just right. At the end of the crust, there were big, fat, airy air bubbles, which I absolutely loved. It was also very moist. When I got the pizza, the aroma of it all filled the air and my mouth started watering right away.

Panatieri’s Pizza ($12.83 for a medium pizza)

This pizza had a good amount of cheese. It wasn’t that stretchy, but it tasted good. The sauce disappointed me a little. I could not see tomatoes or taste them, and it was very bland. The sauce was there but if I could not see the orange color, I would not know it was there. Also, the herbs did not have much of a taste.  I really liked the base of this pizza and it had the right amount of thickness. I really did not like the crust. It was just too crunchy, VERY dry, but it was not too brown. When I smelt this pizza, it smelled really good but the taste did not live up to it. 

Fratelli’s Pizza (11.73 for a medium pizza)

The cheese on the pizza was stretchy, but it was not too chewy. There was a good amount of the cheese. As for the sauce, I really couldn’t taste anything. There were no herbs and there was not enough of the sauce. Also, I could not taste the tomatoes. The base had a good thickness, and the texture was pleasurable.  The crust was terrible. It was hard, dry, chewy, and too brown. I found that the pizza was odorless. There were no good air bubbles which means the dough had not risen well with the yeast. It tasted really oily on one hand but pretty dry, because there is hardly any sauce on the pizza.

The Blind Taste Test!!!

This was my favorite part. After I tasted all the pizza slices and took notes on them, I had a blind taste test. First, I ate a bite of pizza without knowing what it was and then, I took another bite of another slice of pizza. I thought about which pizza tasted better. I then kept doing this with all 4 slices and ranked them from 1st to 4th.

Here is the list in order from best to worst. Drum-roll please… drdrdrdrdr

1. Villa Pizza :) 

2. Stelton Pizza :)

3. Panatieri’s Pizza :(

4. Fratelli’s pizza :(

So the final winner is.....

Villa Pizza!!

Key: :) = On my Cool Lane

       :( = Not on My Cool Lane

Temperature in a Locked Car During Summer

On a hot summer day, have you ever stepped inside your car and felt like it was hard to breathe? Now imagine how you would have felt if you had to be in that hot car for hours with no way of cooling down and no fresh air?
 
Did you know that 38 children die on average every year as a result of either being trapped or left in cars during the summer?1  If the temperature outside is 70 degrees Fahrenheit, the temperature inside a car can go up to 99 degrees in just 20 minutes!2

I wonder how people can forget their kids or pets in a car. How can someone be so distracted that they forget their child or their dear pet? I read that this usually happens because the parents or owners are accustomed to a certain routine and one day the routine changes and the parents forget and when they come back to the car, it’s too late. 

Do you think that people should be punished for leaving their child or pet in the car? I think that the loss itself is a huge punishment. And if you punish that person, it will be like a double punishment. Instead of punishing that person, we should be finding ways to deal with this problem so that it doesn’t happen ever in the first place. 

The good thing is, some people have already invented things to help parents remember that their child is in the car. One 11 year old kid named Andrew Pelham from Nashville, TN invented the E-Z Baby Saver with Rainbow Loom and duct tape and made a long string. One end of the  Baby Saver attaches to the driver’s door. The other end attaches to the back of the driver’s seat. So when the driver opens the door, he can’t get out unless he takes the Baby Saver off, which reminds him that the child or pet is there.

There are also two other inventions in the market. They are both special car seats. One of them detects the temperature inside the car and warns your phone if the temperature gets too high. The other is where there is a device on the car seat buckle so that if the seat is buckled in and the ignition is turned off, it will beep.
 
I was thinking about all this and discussing it with my family and we thought that the heat inside a locked car was enough to cook something - literally! I asked my mom if I could bake cookies in the car instead of an oven. She told me that someone has already done this before. I still wanted to do it so we went ahead with it.

First, I made cookie dough. 



Making cookie dough with my sister

Then, I took a thermometer that is used to measure the temperature outside and put it in the car. 


Start Temperature

I put it in the car next to the cookies. A few hours later, the thermometer read NEGATIVE 20F while the temperature outside was only 73 degrees! I was wondering why it was so cold in the car. Then I realized that it was so hot that the needle swung around completely.

After 20 min, outside temp. is 73 degrees F.
Thermometer has swung around so it looks like it is cold but it is around 140F.

So really, it was very hot in the car! When I took the cookies out of the car, they were ready to eat.

I would not allow any cars with children or pets left alone in them on my Cool Lane.

Summer Institute for the Gifted

This summer, my sister and I went to a camp called SIG. That stands for “Summer Institute for the Gifted”. We went there for three weeks and had a lot of fun and we learnt a lot there too! Some kids stayed there for the whole day and had 4 periods. We were half day students, meaning we had only 2 periods rather than 4.

My first period was called “Spying: Secrets, Science, and Surveillance”. This class was really exciting. We learned about real life spies, such as Kate Warne and Ian Fleming. (Yes, Ian Fleming was a spy before he became an author.) I also learned a lot of different codes and ciphers. Can you decipher this code? Wklv fdps lv rq pb Frro Odqh! This kind of cipher is called a Caesar cipher. In this class, we also learnt about the history of spying. We wrote a fictional spy story, made decoder wheels and rings, and made our own model of a spy gadget.

My next camp was called “Unlocking the Genetic Code”. As you can tell, this camp was all about genetics. This camp was very interesting too! In the beginning, however, I did not like this camp. My teacher made us do a lot of worksheets. I thought that this was supposed to be summer vacation! After a few days, we did a lot of hands on things, such as making a model strand of DNA (Deoxyribonucleic acid) using pasta, beads, and pipe cleaners. I did the DNA of a gorilla. We also did virtual experiments on the Internet through the Smart Board. We did DNA extractions on the Smart Board too. One of my most favorite things was going on a website called Kahoot! It was a quiz website and the teacher made a quiz that we did and whoever answered the question first would get the most points. At the end of the quiz, whoever had the most points, won. All in all, this turned out to be a great camp.

My sister had “Inventive Minds at Work” and “Diving into Marine Science” for her classes and she loved them too. 

By this time, you may be wondering if SIG is on my Cool Lane or not. I’ve hidden it somewhere in this blog post and you have to try to find it! If you find it, comment and let me know!

Divergent

Title: Divergent by Veronica Roth

Why I Started to Read This Book: When my friends at school were watching the Hunger Games, I wanted to watch them too. I usually read books before watching the corresponding movies so we went to the library to pick up Hunger Games. My mom checked online and saw that Divergent and The Maze Runner were similar books, but less violent and suggested that I should read those before I read The Hunger Games. So I started reading Divergent.

What is it About? It is about a girl named Beatrice. Where she lives, her world is split into 5 factions or divisions: Abnegation for the selfless, Amity for the peaceful, Candor for the truthful, Dauntless for the brave, and Erudite for the smart.  They take a test to help the people decide what faction they will be in for the rest of their lives. In the test, Beatrice shows signs of having qualities of more than one faction. She is therefore Divergent. She chooses to be in a faction that she feels she best fits into. In that faction, she has to do different things to prove that she belongs to that faction. This is called initiation. She has to be ranked in the top ten or higher or else she becomes faction-less and that is a terrible life.

What Did I Like About This Book? I liked all the action and the things that Beatrice had to do to clear initiation.

What Didn't I Like About This Book? There were a lot of details and I could picture each scene in my head. Sounds good, right? The thing is, the same goes for all the bloody scenes which was not pleasant at all.

Does This Belong On My Cool Lane Or Not? Definitely!

Summer Tutoring - 2015

Have you ever thought about what you want to be when you grow up? I have. Since I was really little, I’ve been getting some of the best teachers. I’ve always looked up to them and decided that I want to be like them when I grow up. Since then, I’ve been pursuing my goal to be a teacher. When kids in my class have trouble with a concept that I can grasp, I help them in the best ways that I can. Finally, something that could possibly change my life has happened!

In my neighborhood, there is a kid who just finished kindergarten and is going to first grade. Since I love teaching, my mom asked the kid’s mom if I could tutor him twice a week. His mom agreed, and when I heard the news, I was bouncing off the walls, almost literally. I was so excited. I immediately started thinking about what I would teach him.

On the last day of school, I went to visit my former principal, Mr. Stio. While we were talking, he asked me what I was doing over the summer. I said that I was going to be tutoring a soon-to-be first grader. When I told him that, he showed me lots of books that teachers use for their students. There were mountains of these books. He said that I could pick out whatever I want. Mr. Stio also gave me the idea that my sister Shreya could be my TA (Teacher’s Assistant) She could check the work, or give me the materials that I needed. When I went home, I had more books in my hand that you could count.

Finally it was the day of my first lesson. Here are some of my lesson plans:

• Day 1:
  
• Day 2
  
• Day 3
  

I think that tutoring him will be a great experience. I have some cool plans for him over the summer. I will write an update at the end of the summer vacation. I am so excited to see the progress he makes.

Stay tuned! I will tell you if this is on my cool lane at the end of summer.

The Giver

Title: The Giver By Lois Lowry

Why I Started to Read This Book: My mom wanted me to read this book since she had read it and she told me about it. She had really enjoyed it. She thought that I would too. And boy, was she right!

What is it About? This book is about a boy named Jonas. He lives in a “perfect” world. He sees only in black and white so people can’t be racist. They had what they called “Climate Control”. Obviously, they controlled the climate so that people would be safe and there would be no tornadoes, hurricanes, storms etc. So, it never snowed, or it never got too hot. Then one day, Jonas is chosen to be the Receiver of Memory. He finds out about what the real world is like. He feels all sorts of emotions, like love, anger, sadness, loss and hatred. He also feels what war is like. Which would you prefer, Jonas's "perfect" world, or our world with many, many emotions? Read the book to find out more.

What Did I Like About This Book? I liked how it was full of bravery and love. It had suspense. Did they forget to assign a job for Jonas? Did someone make a mistake?

What Didn't I Like About This Book? Nothing. This  book was "perfect".

Does This Belong On My Cool Lane Or Not? People years from now will look at my Cool Lane and think, "This book has been in Adi's Cool Lane for a long time. Back and back and back."

Mrs. Frisby and the Rats of NIMH

Title: Mrs. Frisby and the Rats of NIMH By Robert C. O’Brian

Why I Started to Read This Book: My teacher has a monthly book club. Kids in my class who have similar reading levels and interests meet once a week with my teacher, Mrs. Fleming. They all read the same book and discuss it. For me, the book was Rats of Nimh. 

What is it About? This book is about a mouse named Mrs. Frisby. Her child, Timothy, falls sick with pneumonia. The doctor tells her that he will get better but he will still be very weak. If he even breathes in cold air, he will catch pneumonia again and will not get better.  But, Moving Day is coming soon. That means that the mice have to move somewhere else to live. The weather is still chilly, though. The doctor asks her to see "The Owl" and he might be able to help with her dilemma. The Owl suggests that she should go to The Rats of NIMH. The Rats are an intelligent society of rats. They say that they can fix her problem.

What Did I Like About This Book? I loved literally everything. There was a lot of suspense. Would Timmy be safe in the end? What would the rats do to help poor Mrs. Frisby?  This book was a really good book. The author had one story enclosed inside the other. One story was about Timmy  getting sick. The other was about how the rats became smart. 

What Didn't I Like About This Book? This book is not a series. The end of the book left me wanting for more. Most books either have a sequel, or it has a very clear ending. This one was different.

Does This Belong On My Cool Lane Or Not? : OF COURSE IT DOES!!!!