Chapter 13- Matt and Celia talk of the clone. Celia explains that Tom is Mr. MacGregor and Felicia's son. He doesn't understand because he knows Felicia is married to Mr. Alacran. Celia says that just because they are married doesn't mean anything. Maria wouldn't talk to Matt, so he decided to take Furball and hide him until she talked to him. He took Furball and headed to the Lotus Pond. There, he sees Tom. Tom had nailed a frogs feet to the ground until Matt feed it. Tom claims he is doing a science project, which Matt doesn't believe. Tom explains how he wants to be on the top of the food chain. Matt tries to talk to Maria, but she has to leave. He goes back out to the shed and Furball is barking. He feeds him meat to make him be quiet. When Celia falls asleep, he slowly approches the shed and Furball. Daft Donald and Tam Lin carry Matt to Senator Mendoza. He tells Matt he won't be around Maria anymore. Matt explains that he didn't kill Furball, but no one believes him. Celia takes him upstairs as everyone leaves.
Chapter 14- Matt stayed in his room as Maria left. He thinks over everything that happened. Celia comes in and he asks why didn't Tom stay with Mr. MacGregor if it was his son. Celia explains that when El Patron decides that something is his, he doesn't give it up. She tells him of how she came from the same village as El Patron and when she tried to cross the border, the Farm Patrol caught her. When El Patron came in and realized she was from the same village, he had her released. She has been with him ever since. Matt asks about all the other people. She says they were turned into eejits.
I read 21 pages.
Interesting Quotation: "I was only doing a science project," said Tom. "Oh, sure. Even Maria wouldn't believe that."" Maria believes anything that comes out of Tom, or anyone but Matt's mouth. No matter how many times Tom hurts Maria or scares her, she forgives him. She will always run back to him and they stay friends.
Tuesday, March 26, 2013
Monday, March 25, 2013
Chapters 11-12
Chapter 11- Matt is walking around and sees Tom's place card next to his and Maria's at the baby table, so he switches them. Maria gets upset and changes them back. Matt says it is his party also and she must sit with him. She is upset the whole time. El Patron begins to open his gifts and he has a mountain of gifts around him. Matt opens his from Celia and Tam Lin, but Maria won't give hers to him. He demands she bring it and a gift. She reluctantly does so. El Patron leaves and Matt goes to bed.
Chapter 12- The next morning, Felicia comes to visit Matt. She tells him to go meet Maria at the hospital. He goes and Maria thinks that he invited her there. Tom comes out. Matt realizes that Tom told Maria to come and Felicia told Matt to come saying the other invited them there. They hear something screaming in the back. Maria thinks it's a cat and must go save it. When they go back, they see it is a person; a boy. It was screaming and kicking and trying to get loose. Tom explains it's a clone. It is Mr. MacGregor's clone. Maria can't look at the clone or even think about it. Matt tries to explain that he isn't like this clone, but she won't listen to him. Both of them leave and soon after, he follows.
I read 9 pages.
Interesting Quotation: "Matt was beside himself with frustration. "You wanted to come down here to rescue a cat. Well, look at this! It needs rescuing!" "No, no, no," whimpered Maria. She was in a state of utter panic. "Take me away!" she wailed." Maria, like all the others, would save anything but a clone. She doesn't mind Matt most of the time, but she couldn't handle this clone. No one wants to help a clone. Everyone says that clones eventually go crazy. Why spend time with them if they will eventually go crazy?
Chapter 12- The next morning, Felicia comes to visit Matt. She tells him to go meet Maria at the hospital. He goes and Maria thinks that he invited her there. Tom comes out. Matt realizes that Tom told Maria to come and Felicia told Matt to come saying the other invited them there. They hear something screaming in the back. Maria thinks it's a cat and must go save it. When they go back, they see it is a person; a boy. It was screaming and kicking and trying to get loose. Tom explains it's a clone. It is Mr. MacGregor's clone. Maria can't look at the clone or even think about it. Matt tries to explain that he isn't like this clone, but she won't listen to him. Both of them leave and soon after, he follows.
I read 9 pages.
Interesting Quotation: "Matt was beside himself with frustration. "You wanted to come down here to rescue a cat. Well, look at this! It needs rescuing!" "No, no, no," whimpered Maria. She was in a state of utter panic. "Take me away!" she wailed." Maria, like all the others, would save anything but a clone. She doesn't mind Matt most of the time, but she couldn't handle this clone. No one wants to help a clone. Everyone says that clones eventually go crazy. Why spend time with them if they will eventually go crazy?
Sunday, March 24, 2013
Chapters 8-10
Chapter 8- Matt and Tam Lin head out for a picnic. Matt is disappointed that the horse isn't like El Latigo Negro's. The horse isn't a super fast, ride-like-the-wind, kind of horse. They pass people harvesting opium. Matt asks what they are doing and Tam Lin has to explain that he is dead from either lack of water or heat. tam Lin tells Matt that the horse can't follow them because he is programmed to stay on the farm. He would just stood in front of the water trough until he died, had Tam Lin not told him to drink. Tam Lin explains to Matt that the man in the field and Teacher are eejits. Matt tells him to stop because the stories are horrible. Tam Lin shows Matt a coyote den and a beehive. They head back to the Estate when the sun begins to set. When they pass were the man was laying, they see that he is no longer there. Matt asks Tam Lin if he could teach him, but Tam Lin says Matt will learn from the TV and Tam Lin will be there to make sure he studies.
Chapter 9- Matt gets afraid that the dead man will be laying outside his door, looking up at him. Matt likes to sneak into the music room to hear Felicia Alacran play the piano. He hides in a closet one day so Felicia doesn't see him. He finds a switch that shows him a secret passage. He ends up going inside it and hearing a conversation between the doctor, Mr. Alacran and his dad. He hurries out of that closet and back to the music room. Tam Lin finds him with the piano and gets him a music teacher. The only one he could find is a deaf man named Mr. Ortega. No one wants to teach a clone.
Chapter 10- Its is time for El Patron's 143rd birthday. Maria and Matt head to Maria's room to get Furball and Tom is standing there. Furball is nowhere to be found and Tom said he never saw him. They begin to search for Furball when Matt hears something from the bathroom. He goes in there and Furball is in the toilet with the lid down. Matt takes him out and dries him off. Maria runs in and grabs him. Tom said he must have been drinking out of the toilet and he fell in and closed the top. Matt doesn't believe him. El Patron's party starts and Matt sees Mr. MacGregor, another drug lord. El Patron tells the same story from his childhood as he did every year.
I read 26 pages.
Interesting Quotation: "Eejits can only do simple things. They pick fruit or sweep floors or, as you've seen, harvest opium." ~Tam Lin, Page 82, Lines 1 and 2~ When they put the brain implant in someone, it takes away certain abilities. Eejits can only do things that other people tell them to do. If they are told to pick opium, they have to do so until they are told to stop. That's why Teacher could only repeat the same lesson. That's why the man died in the field. He didn't hear the warden tell them to stop because he got behind and lack of water and heat killed him.
Chapter 9- Matt gets afraid that the dead man will be laying outside his door, looking up at him. Matt likes to sneak into the music room to hear Felicia Alacran play the piano. He hides in a closet one day so Felicia doesn't see him. He finds a switch that shows him a secret passage. He ends up going inside it and hearing a conversation between the doctor, Mr. Alacran and his dad. He hurries out of that closet and back to the music room. Tam Lin finds him with the piano and gets him a music teacher. The only one he could find is a deaf man named Mr. Ortega. No one wants to teach a clone.
Chapter 10- Its is time for El Patron's 143rd birthday. Maria and Matt head to Maria's room to get Furball and Tom is standing there. Furball is nowhere to be found and Tom said he never saw him. They begin to search for Furball when Matt hears something from the bathroom. He goes in there and Furball is in the toilet with the lid down. Matt takes him out and dries him off. Maria runs in and grabs him. Tom said he must have been drinking out of the toilet and he fell in and closed the top. Matt doesn't believe him. El Patron's party starts and Matt sees Mr. MacGregor, another drug lord. El Patron tells the same story from his childhood as he did every year.
I read 26 pages.
Interesting Quotation: "Eejits can only do simple things. They pick fruit or sweep floors or, as you've seen, harvest opium." ~Tam Lin, Page 82, Lines 1 and 2~ When they put the brain implant in someone, it takes away certain abilities. Eejits can only do things that other people tell them to do. If they are told to pick opium, they have to do so until they are told to stop. That's why Teacher could only repeat the same lesson. That's why the man died in the field. He didn't hear the warden tell them to stop because he got behind and lack of water and heat killed him.
Thursday, March 21, 2013
Chapters 5-7
Chapter 5- The doctor comes to check on Matt because he has to. Rosa tells Matt she can kill him if she wants. Rosa brings him food and changes his newspapers everyday without talking to him. One day, she has gardeners remove his bed and bring in sawdust. The doctor doesn't like it at first, but says "the beast" is in good condition. Tom comes to make fun of him. Matt finds a rotten, wormy orange under the sawdust and nails Tom in the face. Tom goes and gets a pea shooter anf starts nailing Matt in the chest with peas. Matt isn't wearing a shirt because Rosa took everything but his pants. Maria goes and gets Celia and brings her to Matt. She promises to get him out.
Chapter 6: Rosa gets Matt up to wash him and gets him nicely dressed. She threatened him that if he said anything about what she had done, she could kill him. El Patron was there to see Matt. Celia tell El Patron of what Rosa was doing to Matt. When El Patron calls for the doctor, her runs in immediatly. The doctor tells El Patron all about what Rosa was doing, even though he was in on it. She scratched the doctor's face and she is escorted away. Matt and El Patron chat until El Patron falls asleep. Maria goes and gets Matt the next day because El Patron is leaving. El Patron tells everyone to be nice to Matt and that he is leaving a bodygaurd to reinforce it. Matt chooses Tam Lin. Everyone ignores Matt an they return inside.
I read 28 pages.
Interesting Quotation:""Bleating won't save you, you good-for-nothing animal."" ~Rosa, Page 39, Line 22~ Rosa can do whatever she wants to Matt because no one can hear him scream. No one is in the rooms even near to him. Rosa could kill him and no one would hear him.
Chapter 7: Tom comes to Celia's apartment and rips up Matt's teddy bear. Matt and Tom start fighting and Tam Lin breaks them up. Matt kicks Maria and Tom out and Tam Lin talks to him. Maria later explains that she has to go school and invites Matt. He acts rude towards her. A teacher comes to Matt and has him color and write the same letters everyday. He finally blows up and yells at her. Tam Lin comforts her and then goes to talk to Matt. When he goes to Matt, he is excited that Matt can talk. Matt tells Tam Lin that Teacher is an eejit, calling her stupid. Tam Lin says that Matt doesn't know what that means and tells him he will take him on a picnic.
I read 9 pages.
Interesting Quotation: ""She was an eejit," announced Matt, using Maria's worst insult."" ~Matt, Page 74, Line 12~ Matt is referring to her as an idiot. He knows she isn't exactly smart when she teaches the same thing over and over again.
Chapter 6: Rosa gets Matt up to wash him and gets him nicely dressed. She threatened him that if he said anything about what she had done, she could kill him. El Patron was there to see Matt. Celia tell El Patron of what Rosa was doing to Matt. When El Patron calls for the doctor, her runs in immediatly. The doctor tells El Patron all about what Rosa was doing, even though he was in on it. She scratched the doctor's face and she is escorted away. Matt and El Patron chat until El Patron falls asleep. Maria goes and gets Matt the next day because El Patron is leaving. El Patron tells everyone to be nice to Matt and that he is leaving a bodygaurd to reinforce it. Matt chooses Tam Lin. Everyone ignores Matt an they return inside.
I read 28 pages.
Interesting Quotation:""Bleating won't save you, you good-for-nothing animal."" ~Rosa, Page 39, Line 22~ Rosa can do whatever she wants to Matt because no one can hear him scream. No one is in the rooms even near to him. Rosa could kill him and no one would hear him.
Chapter 7: Tom comes to Celia's apartment and rips up Matt's teddy bear. Matt and Tom start fighting and Tam Lin breaks them up. Matt kicks Maria and Tom out and Tam Lin talks to him. Maria later explains that she has to go school and invites Matt. He acts rude towards her. A teacher comes to Matt and has him color and write the same letters everyday. He finally blows up and yells at her. Tam Lin comforts her and then goes to talk to Matt. When he goes to Matt, he is excited that Matt can talk. Matt tells Tam Lin that Teacher is an eejit, calling her stupid. Tam Lin says that Matt doesn't know what that means and tells him he will take him on a picnic.
I read 9 pages.
Interesting Quotation: ""She was an eejit," announced Matt, using Maria's worst insult."" ~Matt, Page 74, Line 12~ Matt is referring to her as an idiot. He knows she isn't exactly smart when she teaches the same thing over and over again.
Wednesday, March 20, 2013
Reading Blog
The House of the Scorpion is a science fiction book about a boy named Matteo Alacran who is clone. He is the clone of El Patron. He is started as an embryo and a cow gave birth to him. Matt almost got "dumbed down" when he was born by having a shot in his head. This shot would put a microchip in his brain and make him dumber. At first, I thought this book wouldn't be very good, but when I read the summary on the back, I realized I might like this book. Turns out, I don't like it... I love it. I always want to read more to know what happens next.
First Sitting
Chapter 1- Eduardo is being forced to take thirty-six embryos and put them in cows and make at least one survive. Matteo Alacran is a clone. He is the only one that survives the process. Eduardo goes to lower his intelligence with a shot when Lisa, a co-worker, stops him because Matteo is an Alacran.
Chapter 2- Matt lives with Celia, the Alacran Estates cook. He tries to stop her from leaving to go to work because he doesn't want to be lonely. He finally lets Celia leave when she promises to bring a present back for him. Matt gets food and moves way away from the microwave. Celia padlocks it so Matt can't get in it. He goes to Celia's room to play with the stuffed animals. He realizes they don't understand him. He goes to watch TV and makes the same observation. Matt hears voices outside. He runs to the door and they talk to him. He doesn't reply. When Celia returns, he colors in the coloring book she brought him. He accidentally calls her mama and she gets upset. He asks her about the children and she tells him. He figures out the two must have been Steven and Emilia. He starts practicing what he will say to them the next day, while he was laying in bed.
Chapter 3: Matt waits all day for Steven and Emilia to come back. At last, they come back and they bring Emilia's little sister, Maria, with them. Steven and Emilia begin to leave Maria, so Matt breaks the window with a pan. Steven and Emilia come back. Matt jumps out of the window and he is barefooted. He gets glass all in his feet and he blacks out. He awakens to Steven and Emilia carrying him. They take him inside where Rosa, a worker, helps him. She lays him down and pulls the glass out. He has 'Property of Alacran House' on the bottom of his foot. Steven's father, Me. Alacran, comes in and tells them to get Matt out of his house. Rosa takes him out and lays him down before running back inside.
I read 23 pages.
Interesting Quotation- ""You can't come mi vida. You must stay hidden in the nest like a good little mouse. There're hawks out there that eat little mice."" ~Celia, Page 5, Line 11-12~ This quote interests me because you can tell Celia doesn't want people to know she has Matt. That's one reason she doesn't live with the others. she won't let Matt outside at all. She locks all the windows and doors and doesn't allow Matt to even touch the microwave. He isn't supposed to be as smart as he is. Celia doesn't want him outside or touching certain things.
Second Sitting
Chapter 4- Matt is put in a room where no one goes and everyone is to stay away from him. Rosa brings him food, but is awful to Matt. Maria is the only one who still likes him. She goes down to his room and they talk. Maria brought Matt food and they tell stories while eating. Matt tells Maria scary stories and she gets frightened. She starts crying. Maria lays down with him and then jumps back up to get newspaper for covers. Rosa comes in to find Maria and insults Matt and drags Maria off.
I read 10 pages.
Interesting Quotation- ""Too late, the children have seen it."" ~Page 28, Line 17~ Everyone thinks Matt is a dirty little clone, They don't want to be near him or touch him. They think just because he was born different, that he is nasty. Most clones are injected with a microchip that makes them horrible and they assume that Matt is like this too.
First Sitting
Chapter 1- Eduardo is being forced to take thirty-six embryos and put them in cows and make at least one survive. Matteo Alacran is a clone. He is the only one that survives the process. Eduardo goes to lower his intelligence with a shot when Lisa, a co-worker, stops him because Matteo is an Alacran.
Chapter 2- Matt lives with Celia, the Alacran Estates cook. He tries to stop her from leaving to go to work because he doesn't want to be lonely. He finally lets Celia leave when she promises to bring a present back for him. Matt gets food and moves way away from the microwave. Celia padlocks it so Matt can't get in it. He goes to Celia's room to play with the stuffed animals. He realizes they don't understand him. He goes to watch TV and makes the same observation. Matt hears voices outside. He runs to the door and they talk to him. He doesn't reply. When Celia returns, he colors in the coloring book she brought him. He accidentally calls her mama and she gets upset. He asks her about the children and she tells him. He figures out the two must have been Steven and Emilia. He starts practicing what he will say to them the next day, while he was laying in bed.
Chapter 3: Matt waits all day for Steven and Emilia to come back. At last, they come back and they bring Emilia's little sister, Maria, with them. Steven and Emilia begin to leave Maria, so Matt breaks the window with a pan. Steven and Emilia come back. Matt jumps out of the window and he is barefooted. He gets glass all in his feet and he blacks out. He awakens to Steven and Emilia carrying him. They take him inside where Rosa, a worker, helps him. She lays him down and pulls the glass out. He has 'Property of Alacran House' on the bottom of his foot. Steven's father, Me. Alacran, comes in and tells them to get Matt out of his house. Rosa takes him out and lays him down before running back inside.
I read 23 pages.
Interesting Quotation- ""You can't come mi vida. You must stay hidden in the nest like a good little mouse. There're hawks out there that eat little mice."" ~Celia, Page 5, Line 11-12~ This quote interests me because you can tell Celia doesn't want people to know she has Matt. That's one reason she doesn't live with the others. she won't let Matt outside at all. She locks all the windows and doors and doesn't allow Matt to even touch the microwave. He isn't supposed to be as smart as he is. Celia doesn't want him outside or touching certain things.
Second Sitting
Chapter 4- Matt is put in a room where no one goes and everyone is to stay away from him. Rosa brings him food, but is awful to Matt. Maria is the only one who still likes him. She goes down to his room and they talk. Maria brought Matt food and they tell stories while eating. Matt tells Maria scary stories and she gets frightened. She starts crying. Maria lays down with him and then jumps back up to get newspaper for covers. Rosa comes in to find Maria and insults Matt and drags Maria off.
I read 10 pages.
Interesting Quotation- ""Too late, the children have seen it."" ~Page 28, Line 17~ Everyone thinks Matt is a dirty little clone, They don't want to be near him or touch him. They think just because he was born different, that he is nasty. Most clones are injected with a microchip that makes them horrible and they assume that Matt is like this too.
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