Dragon Teeth by Michael Crichton

Hello Hello! Recently, I read 'Dragon Teeth,' a historical fiction novel by Michael Crichton. The story revolves around William 'Foggy Bill' Johnson, a young Philadelphian studying at Yale. On a bet from an academic rival, he joins the renowned palaeontologist Edward Drinker Cope on a journey to the American West in the summer of 1876 to unearth dinosaur bones.

The book offers an insightful glimpse into the world of palaeontology. Crichton's powerful and intelligent writing maintains the story's intrigue and keeps the characters engaging. It provides enough detail for the reader to comprehend the intense and precise art of archaeology.

During their Westward journey, Cope and Johnson face tense and often violent encounters with the ruthless Professor Othniel Charles Marsh, another palaeontologist and a long-time rival of Cope. Marsh stops at nothing to steal the fossils excavated by Cope's team, specifically teeth belonging to a newly discovered species of dinosaur, Brontosaurus.

The feud between Cope and Marsh adds a captivating dimension to the novel. The story becomes more exhilarating as Johnson navigates unfamiliar and dangerous encounters with bandits and gunslingers in the badlands of Deadwood, Montana.

'Dragon Teeth' proves to be an entertaining and exciting read, offering both an educational and engaging perspective on archaeology, palaeontology, and the discovery of dinosaurs during the rough and tumble days of the Wild West and the American Frontier.

Form 1 Popular Reads

Each month in our Form 1 English class we read novels for homework. Last month we chose books that have not yet been made into a film or TV show.  Here is a list of the books that we enjoyed.  Maybe you would like to read them too! 

A Spoonful of Murder by Robin Stevens - 3/5 stars

Scarlet and Ivy: The Lost Twin by Sophie Cleverly - 4/5 stars

Lily at Lisadell: Lily's Dream by Judi Curtain - 3/5 stars

Faraway Home by Marilyn Taylor - 5/5 stars

Dancing in the Dark, by Peter Prendergast - 4/5 stars

The Battle of ROAR! by Jenny McLachlan - 4.5/5 stars

Lola Rose by Jacqueline Wilson - 3.5/5 stars

The Land of Stories: The Wishing Spell by Chris Colfer - 5/5 stars

How to Rob a Bank by Tom Mitchell - 3/5 stars

The Sacrifice Box by Martin Sewart - 3.5/5 stars

Arsenic for Tea by Robin Stevens - 3/5 stars 

Freeze, by Chris Priestley – 2/5 stars

The Ultimate Truth by Kevin Brooks – 3.5/5 stars 

Chalkline by Jane Mitchell – 4.5/5 stars 

Kensuke's Kingdom by Michael Morpugo –  5/5 stars 

The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Nighttime by Mark Haddon – 3/5 stars

The Golden Swift by Lev Grossman – 3/5 stars

BRILLIANT by by Roddy Doyle – 5/5 stars  

Cool  by Michael Morpugo – 4/5 stars

Public Enemy Number Two by Anthony Horowitz– 5/5 stars  

Arthur Quinn  by Alan Early– 3.5/5 stars

Our April Reads...

The book I read was The Twisted Ones by Scott Cawthorn,it is about a girl who has to investigate some murders made by the robots her dad invented it is really creepy and good i rate this four and a half stars out of five.

The book I read was Hitler's Canary by Sandi Toksvig, it is about a boy called Bamse who lives in Copenhagen when it is being taken over by the Germans, throughout the book Bamse and his brother Orlando perform small sabotages on the German army ans saving thousands of Jews by transporting them safely to Germany, I would rate this book a 10/10 because it is based on a true s

The book I read was "Storm of Strawberries" by Jo Cotterill, it is about a family that live on a strawberry farm. One day a storm comes and the parents aren't able to look after the kids. The kids have a lot going on. I would highly recommend this book.

The book I read was Ready Player One by Ernest Cline. The Oasis is a virtual reality world that  everyone spends all there time on. One day, the creator James Halliday died, he left his fortune to whoever wins his competition. The competition is to find three keys and unlock three gates to eventually win the prize. After 5 years of everybody searching for the prize Wade found the first key. I would give this book 10/10.

The book I read was called The Real Rebecca, it is about a girl called Rebecca and her mum is an author. Her English teacher left the school but another teacher is a massive fan of her mums books and she keeps embarrising Rebecca. I rate this book 9/10 stars.

The book I read was called A Spoonful of Murder. It was about a girl called Hazel who's grandfather died and she then finds out that he was murdered! In this case she is not just a detective, she is also a suspect! I would rate this 9/10.


I read Race Against Time by Ginny Elliot. It is about a girl who gets involved in a blackmail situation. It is a virus going around to all horses running in the Grand National. Jessie can not tell anyone because if she does her horse will get infected. I rate this book 7/10 stars.

The book I read was Abandon by Meg Cabot, it is about a girl called Pierce who had a near death experience. She tells the reader how she died and where you go when you die. i would give this book an 8 out of 10.

The book that I read was the  Maze Runner. This book was about 50 teenage boys that got trapped in a maze. a group of scientist called WICKED studies the boys brain patterns to help cure a disease. The kids don't realize it but they are the last hope to save the few remaining souls of humanity.

The book that I read was Born to Run. This book was about a dog who gets rescued from a canal. He was a naturally good runner. He goes travelling around the city. He goes on many adventures with each of his owners. I would rate this book a 9 out of 10.

The book that I read was wilderness. This book was about a mother who brings her kids on holidays but goes missing. They had to cut holiday short. I would rate this  8/10. 

Our January Reads

The Planets
This book shows you everything in the Solar System including asteroids, comets, meteorites, dwarf planets, the sun, planet and moons. This book is good because the illustrations spectacular and it is quite up to date. I rate it four and a half stars.

ALI: a life
Author:Jonathan Eig
It is a biography on the life of Mohammed Ali.  This book is great because it is engaging an realistic. This person is the reason why a lot of people took up boxing. I would recommend this book for people who like boxing. I would rate it five stars.

The life of Anne Frank
written by Jacquelyn  Wilson
It is about a German girl living in Holland  and went into hiding in a secret annex at the time of world war two. It is more enjoyed for people interested in history. I rate this four stars.

Famous Speeches that Changed the World
This book shows you many famous speeches that changed the world, including; Adolf Hitler, Martin Luther King Jr and Winston Churchill. This book also shows how important each speech was in history. I would recommend this book for people interested in history. I rate this book four stars.

Alex Ferguson
The book I read was Alex Ferguson, it is an autobiography. It is about how he went to Manchester United and his relationships with players. I would recommend this book to people that have and interest in sport or football. I would give it a three out of five.

Animal Life
This is a book of all amazing animals big and small. There is animals that are going extinct and they tell you how the animal lives. I would give this book an eight out of ten because of its good description and accurate pictures.

Tiger Rescue
The book that I read was tiger Rescue, the another of the book is Virginia McKenna. it is a book about a tiger cub being rescued by born free foundation. I would give it five out of five.

Christmas Books

1. A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens         
The book is about an old man called Scrooge who is visited by three spirits who show him how to care.

2. A Visit from St. Nicholas by Clement Clarke Moore

  The book is about how families wait for St. Nicholas once a year and when a father bumps into St Nicholas

3. The Polar Express by Chris Van Allsburg
   The book is about how a boy doesn't believe in Christmas and goes on a train to visit Santa to discover the true meaning of Christmas.

4. Skipping Christmas by John Grisham
The book is about how a family go on a Caribbean cruise and leave their daughter in Peru where the story takes a turn for the worst.
      
5. The Best Christmas Pageant Ever by Barbara Robinson
The book is about how six misbehaving children stumble across a church and are assigned roles in a play and through the roles of the play find what Christmas is all about.

        

OPEN-By Andre Agassi

This autobiography was written by a ghostwriter on behalf of Andre Agassi. I was drawn to giving this book a read as I play tennis myself and I heard many people going on about how much of a great read it was including my parents and friends.
Andre Agassi played tennis professionally from 1986 to 2006. The book is about Andre's life story and how his father forced him to play tennis as a kid, tennis then became his career, even though he hated it. The book focuses on Andre's ups and downs in his life, the friendships he had and his relationships. The book also describes Andre's battles with his great rivals, his devastating losses, and his career changing matches. He describes the intense psychological aspect of tennis and how it can take you to great highs in your life but also to great lows.

The main characters in this book are Andre Agassi, Brooke shields(his first wife), Brad(his one of few tennis coaches), Gil (his personal trainer and in many ways a great friend), J.P and Perry who were two of his closest friends, and of course Steffi Graf who was the best woman tennis player in the world when she retired and also Agassi's wife.

Another main person to impact Agassi's life was his father and he turns out to probably be the most influential person in Agassi's life, The reason for this is from the day Andre Agassi was born his father was convinced that he would be the world's number one. His father built a tennis court in his garden and a machine that would fire balls across the net for Andre to hit back. Andre thought of this machine as a fire breathing dragon who never grew tired. He hated it. His father worked out that if he hit one thousand balls every day, he would hit 365,000 balls a year and that this must make him the best tennis player in the world some day.

By Adam Rufli

A Study in Scarlet Sir Arthur Conan Doyle

A Study in Scarlet is a book I have been considering reading for a long time. I worried that it would be overly verbose (being written over a century ago) and somewhat outdated. It was a great relief then to find out that this is a novel that has aged brilliantly, outdated terminology aside. Compared to others of his time, Conan Doyle's narratives tend to speed along at a fast pace which (for me) is essential in this sort of murder story in order to keep the reader interested in the plot as it unfolds. Also, while it is something the author cannot have foreseen, the first person style in which it is written provides a wonderful insight into life in the nineteenth century. The hustle and bustle of the busy London streets during the daytime, and the silence of the night is excellently captured.

 I am confident in saying that Sherlock Holmes in one of the greatest characters in the history of literature. From his quirky mannerisms to his immense intelligence (and occasional comedic lack thereof) he is intensely likeable. It is no exaggeration when I say that he improves very scene he is in. It is here, I think, that Conan Doyle made his greatest mistake.

 The novel is divided into two major sections, the first dealing with the solving of the murder case. Holmes is prevalent in this portion, and it makes for brilliant entertainment. The latter section deals with the back story of the murderer, and it is here that I feel the book loses steam. The pace slows down to a halt as we are introduced to an entirely new cast of characters, most of whom are significantly less interesting than Sherlock and Co. (Holmes is entirely absent for these chapters). A grumpy elderly man and his stereotypically attractive daughter are no substitute for the crime-solving sleuth.

 I feel that the entire second half of the book would have been better off as a single chapter, or spread out throughout the narrative. It is effectively a large exposition dump at the end of the story, and while it does pay of in making the murderer feel more three-dimensional I am left wondering if reading it was worth the effort. It is a Sherlock Holmes novel without Sherlock Holmes, and not in the positive sense (see "The Hound of the Baskervilles"). There is no other way to describe it, in my opinion the second half of "A Study in Scarlet" is boring.

 A Study in Scarlet is a book of two (literal) halves. The murder case is everything a crime novel should be; engaging, surprising and genuinely entertaining- a proper classic. The murderer's back story is anything but, although to be fair I do feel that the good outshines the not-so-good. I would still absolutely recommend this book to anyone even vaguely interested in crime, drama, or good novels in general. Just forget the second half!