The Music of The Dolphins 1-181

"The Music of The Dolphins" by Karen Hesse is a fictional book about a young teen who is found living among a pod of dolphins off the shores of Cuba . When the coast guards find her, they take her to an institution to teach her about learning and music. The whole book is in first person as we get to read Mila's thoughts that she can not express to the teachers at the institution. As the book goes on, her thoughts become more sophisticated and intellectual and she is able to express her ideas more evenly with the teachers. In this part of the book, the teachers at the institution have put Mila in a room alone and are showing her the video of her rescue.

In that television I see a girl with long, long hair. She is not wearing
any clothes. She is on a beach. I am interested to see a girl on the beach. I
watch. Then she is not on the beach.She is in a new place, wrapped up in a
blanked. A hand offers the girl a drink. The girl sees the water in a cup, but
she is not certain what to do . First her finger dips in the water. Then her
finger goes to her mouth. The girl decides the water is good to drink, and she
makes a cup with her hands. She does not know how to drink from a paper cup. She
drinks water poured form the cup into her hands. The girl is very short. Her
ears are very big.

Then I see Doctor Beck and Sandy inside the television. They are with
the little big-ear girl. They are trapped in the television with her. I run to
the television to help Sandy and Dr.Beck get out. I beat the television with my
shoulder. I cannot make the wall to come down. I take my chair. I throw my chair
at the television. Lights flash everywhere. I jump away. Little lights snapping
and popping. Then the lights are gone. But Dr.Beck and Sandy are gone too.

I think that this passage almost relates to EL&IC because in many ways she is still young and can not let go of being a child- or in this case a dolphin. Also, it is weird to see how fast she can loose the information she was taught, and how she feels strongest as a dolphin rather than a human. It hurts me to see that she learned so much, but in some ways she interpereted it the wrong way . That is what lead her to not understanding.

"Soul Surfer" by Bethany Hamilton

"Soul Surfer" is Bethany Hamilton's early autobiography. It is the story of her life up until a little after her shark attack incident. Bethany was a professional surfer even before her run-in with a 15 foot tiger shark. Her life story is inspirational and uplifting as she describes her road to recovery. In this part of the book she is describing the day that the incident happened.

"We had only been surfing a half hour and the waves were nothing spectacular. We were waiting for the next decent one to roll in, and Alana was floating no more that fifteen feet from me; her brother, Byron, and Dad, Holt, not much farther away. I was bringing up near the rear, and all of us were looking out to sea. I had a tiny, light blue Rip Curl watch on my left hand that i was dangling in the water. I sometimes wonder if the reflection of that watch in the clear water is what attracted the shark. That's when I was suddenly aware of a large gray object closing in on my left side. He was slow and silent;he really crept up on me. . . Luckily, all I saw was a blur. . . I felt pressure and kind of a jiggle-jiggle tug, which I know now was the teeth. . . It was over in a few seconds. I remember seeing the water around me turn bright red with my blood. Then i saw that my arm had been bitten off almost to the shoulder. There was just a three- or four-inch stub where my limb had once been. My reaction as Alana told me, was amazingly matter-of-fact and in control. I just said in a kind of loud yet not panicked voice 'I just got attacked by a shark," and started to paddle away with one arm. I knew the shore was a very long quarter of a mile, but one thought kept repeating in my head: "Get to the beach. Get to the beach"

This part of the book is amazing to me because I believe that her faith in God mentioned earlier in the book and her physical strength kept her alive. By the look of the pictures in the book (also above), that shark could have swallowed her whole. In a way, that day for her was miracle after miracle as she endured such a traumatic event that would have hurt others forever when she had the power to live through it and learn to accept it.

"Bloodstream" by Tess Gerritsen 0-325

The most recent book I have read is "Bloodstream" by Tess Gerritsen. It is a medical mystery that really got my blood pumping! Her book formats are all the same starting out with about 3-7 small stories that go back and forth that finaly in the last chapter combine and the mystery is solved. Sometimes it is a little confusing though because of all of the main characters names and who is who.Basically in the book is about a widdowed wife (Claire Elliot) and her son (Noah)that move to a small town to escape the memories of their lives in chicago. When teens start becoming violent and a school shooting takes place, the town realizes that history is repeating its self as the same problems occured 50 years earlier. Bioluminecent earthworms, brain tumors, seizures and snot all become major factors in solving the case to make sure it never happens again. J.D is a boy who's younger sister likes Noah.In this excert ,J.D is yelling at his sister for giving Noah a peck on the cheek at school . J.D has lived with violence in his life so much that now he believes it is okay to hit and hurt others as in the excert below.

“J.D was jeering at her through her bedroom door calling her a slut, a cheap
lay, a whore. Amelia sat on the bed with her hands clapped over her ears, trying
to shut out her step brothers voice, knowing that if she yelled back at him, it
would only make things worse. J.D was mad at everyone these days , looking to
pick a fight with whoever was in reach.”

This makes me feel sad that such a nice girl would have to grow up in such a horrible enviroment, but at the same time it makes me pause and be thankful for my life I have been given.