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“Journey to the Center of the Earth”, was written by Jules Verne. The book is science fiction and is one of my favorite books. The story begins with two people in Hamburg, Germany, Professor Hardwigg and his nephew, Henry. When Henry helps his uncle crack a secret code, they decide to follow the clues from the decoded message and try to reach the center of the Earth! They go to the Heil railroad which will take them to the harbor, so they can get on a boat and sail to Iceland. There they would attempt to go down an inactive volcano called Mt. Sneffles and travel to the core of the Earth.

It was at least a seven day voyage to get to Iceland. It was windy and overcast, but they made it to Iceland safely. They start their journey to Mt. Sneffles the day after their boat lands. On the journey to the volcano, they meet Hans, who ends up guiding them on the journey.

It was cold outside when they reached Mt. Sneffles. Their descent into the volcano was extremely long. When they reached the bottom they enter the caverns under Mt. Sneffles. By then, they were ten thousand feet below sea level. Later they enter a coal mine in the caverns.

After they got out of the coal mine they were right under the ocean floor. Soon they ran out of water, but thankfully they found some more not long after. Now they are twenty-one miles below the surface of the earth!

The next day, Henry gets lost! He falls down a deep hole and passes out. When he woke up Hans and the Professor were looking for him, and finally found him. When they continued their journey they discovered an underground ocean which Professor Hardwigg named “The Central Sea.” They also found a forest of mushrooms with mushrooms that were forty feet tall!

Hans begins to build a raft so they are able to cross the sea. When it is finished they begin their underground voyage on The Central Sea. By now the temperature is much warmer. They catch fish that are extinct on Earth, but not in the Central Sea. They even watch a sea monster fight!

When they land the raft on an island they explore a forest and find a cave. The cave was full of bones. They quickly leave the cave and find a herd of enormous elephants. While they were going back to the raft, they find a rusted dagger, not belonging to any of the three men. They realized that this was the same path that the first explorer, Arne Saknussemm, had taken on his journey to the center of the Earth. They find a boulder blocking a cave by the dagger and they wanted to get inside. So, they tried to make the boulder explode to get inside the cave. Well, they do blow up the boulder, but they were taking cover on their raft and the explosion made them drift out into the sea.

They drifted into a shaft and began rapidly rising. The water was boiling, the walls were burning, and worst of all, they ran out of food. They were in the shaft for at least one day. The water is getting hotter every second.

It turns out that the shaft they were in, was actually part of an active volcano! They were shot out of the top of the volcano located on the island of Stromboli off the coast of Italy. From there they catch a ride back to Hamburg, Germany. I loved reading “Journey to the Center of the Earth”! I have only seen the movie, but the book was more interesting. I loved all the adventure and the excitement that the characters had on their journey. It would be amazing if any of this were to ever happen!

In the book, The Lion of the North, that I just finished reading, it tells the story of Malcolm Graeme, and how he gained a high position in the king’s court. The book is set in Scotland in the year 1630. It started out as Malcolm waiting in the forest for a group of horsemen, to guide them through the forest. Malcolm was 16 years old and lived with his uncle, Nigel, because his parents have died.

Captain Hume was with the horsemen and met Malcolm in the forest. Malcolm took Captain Hume and the horsemen to his uncle’s house for the night. The next morning, Captain Hume invited Nigel and Malcolm to collect a band of men from the city of Nithsdale, to help build an army. Nigel and Malcolm agreed with this plan and proceeded to find men who were willing to fight for their country.

A few days later, Malcolm, Nigel, and the men who volunteered to be in the army were shipwrecked. They were resourceful and built a raft out of the wreckage. They eventually got to the King’s castle, the place they had been trying to get to before they were shipwrecked.

At the King Gustavus’ castle, there was a feast going on, and Malcolm met Sir John Hepburn. Sir John Hepburn had been welcomed into the counsel of King Gustavus because he had proven his worth by fighting at a young age. In the book, we are told that Sir John Hepburn led his army at the battle of Schiefelburne. Sir John and his army of men were victorious!

Later on in the book, a village is attacked by freebooters or in other words, pirates or bandits. Malcolm was told the news and rode with an army to the village. Malcolm and his army drove the attackers out of Wolfsburg. Because of his wondrous and brave deed, Malcolm is introduced to King Gustavus! The King was impressed with Malcolm’s prudence and modesty and promoted him to the rank of Colonel. He was also given a suit of armor.

Malcolm was eventually promoted to Captain. This is how it happened. The town of Oppenheim in Scotland was captured by pirates. The King told Malcolm of this tragedy and promoted him to Captain so that he could go and free Oppenheim. Malcolm succeeded in this task and the pirates surrendered! After this victory, during Christmas, Malcolm was introduced to the Count and Countess of Mansfield and their daughter, Thelka. They all became great friends.

Sometime later, Malcolm was sent to investigate a peasant town and wound up getting captured. The men he brought with them also got captured while looking for him. Malcolm escaped the place he was in and rescued his men. Together, the got away from the peasants. They found a church tower to hide in, but the peasants found them and tried to draw them out. Malcolm and the men held off the peasants until Captain Burgh came to save them.

The war between the Scots and the Swedes and Germany continued. Sadly, in one of these battles, King Gustavus died from two musket shots. Malcolm mourned greatly for the loss of his king, but at least they won the battle. Even though Malcolm is greatly saddened by the death of his king, he still went out and fought. In one of these battles, Malcolm himself was wounded. Thankfully he recovered a few days later.

It was December when Malcolm got a letter from the Countess. It said that she, her husband, and her daughter had been captured along with their town and the Castel of Mansfeld. She asked for help from Malcolm, he decided to help free her, her family, and her people. He disguised himself as a peasant boy, entered the city walls, and was allowed to go into the Count’s apartment. The Count and Countess needed Malcolm’s help. The German Emperor was going to force the Count’s daughter, Thelka, into Becoming a Catholic nun Nobody wanted this to happen, so Malcolm offered to help Thelka escape. The Count and Countess trusted Malcolm because he was a Scottish gentleman and a Protestant soldier. Malcolm found a place for Thelka to stay at while Malcolm followed the instructions he received from Colonel Munro

Later there was a Coronation for the new king, Ferdinand, and in the middle of the Coronation, three traitors started attacking the people who were there. They killed four officers and Wallenstine. They even captured Malcolm! He was taken prisoner and put in a dungeon in a castle in Germany. An old man who was a prisoner in the dungeon, helped Malcolm escape the German castle.

When Malcolm returned, the officers were planning for another war. The war came extremely soon. The battle was called “The Battle of Nordlingen”. This battle was a large one. The Scotts and Swedes beat the Germans in a glorious victory! The Scotts and Swedens even freed the entire city from the Germans. When Malcolm came home he married Thelka, and once again, the country was at peace.

Robinson Crusoe was my favorite book I read this year so far. It was written by Daniel Defoe, who was born in England around 1660. He died in 1731. Robinson Crusoe is about a man who gets shipwrecked on an island and has to survive and try to get home.

Robinson Crusoe is a Historical Fiction type of genre book. That means that some of it is true, but the rest is fiction. Robinson Crusoe is my favorite school book I have read. You should read it sometime.

Sherlock Holmes was written by Arthur Conan Doyal. It is my second favorite school book I have read this year. It is about a detective named Sherlock Holmes who solves mysteries in London.

Sherlock Holmes is a Horror type of genre book. Horror includes crime, mystery, theives, and more! I like Horror.

Robin Hood is the last of my favorite school books I have read. It was written by Howard Pyle. It is when an outlaw named Robin Hood steals from the rich but gives to the poor when the evil Prince John of England and the Sherrif of Nottingham are trying to get him.

The book is also a Science Fiction type of book. These three books are my favorite school books I have read this year.

A novel is typically a long sequential story that often describes characters and events. Treasure Island by Robert Louis Stevenson is an example of a novel.

Short Stories are a very short part of prose fiction. The Sherlock Holmes stories are examples of Short Stories.

Novellas are texts of narrative, written, and fictional prose. Novellas are usually longer than short stories but shorter than novels. One example is A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens.

Genres are “A kind of type of works of literature art or popular fiction” according to Webster’s New Dictionary. Genres include Science Fiction, Horror, Allegory, Fantasy, Mythology, Fables, and more. All these genres are very important in writing. I have many Horror books.

The five points of a plot are exposition, rising action, climax, falling action, and resolution. The exposition is normally at the beginning of the book and introduces the main character(s). The rising action leads to the climax while building tension in the story. The climax is the highest point of action in a book or movie. The falling action solves the tension that was built earlier in the book or movie. The resolution is the end of the story.

According to Webster’s New Dictionary, a theme is the main topic of a book. There are many themes in books and movies. Maybe even thousands in some!

Recently I had the opportunity to sit down with the world-famous detective, Sherlock Holmes and discuss his recent mystery he called, “The Musgrave Ritual”, and this is what he said.

“Well, it wasn’t easy. By far it was the toughest mystery I have ever encountered, but as always, I solved the mystery. It started out as me on vacation. My assistant, Dr. Watson, insisted that I take a vacation to get soe rest and fresh air, and take some time off my cases for a while.”

Wow, I didn’t know you took a vacation, but how, even on vacation, did a mystery come to you?”

“Like always, someone comes to me, explains to me the case, and asks me to solve it. In that case, it was Sir Musgrave. He said that his butler, Buton, disappeared after sneaking into Mr. Musgrave’s library several times. He was looking over a family poem called The Musgrave Ritual.”

“But why, why would he sneak into a library just to read a family poem?”

“Not read, to decode. Sir Musgrave told me that The Musgrave Ritual was a riddle and if you decoded it, it would lead you to treasure that had been lost over the years by the family and had been forgotten.”

“But what about the butler? What happened to him?”

“Oh, he decoded the message and went to find the treasure, but I also decoded the message and went after him. I found him in the basement, suffocated and dead.”

“What happened after that?”

“Well, as always, I explain how I solved the mystery to Watson, and boy, was he amazed!”

“Well, there you have it folks, the story of The Musgrave Ritual.”

According to Webster’s New Dictionary, a genre is “A king or type of works of literature, art, or popular fiction”. The genres I learned about were Science Fiction, Horror, Allegory, Fantasy, Mythology, and Fables.

The first genres are Science Fiction and Horror. Science fiction drives into technology, sometimes space, of course, science, inventing new hears and gadgets, and sometimes time traveling. horror deals with crime, violence, mystery-solving, death threatening, and a lot of scary stuff.

The second genre is Allegory. An Allegory is a story that has a deeper meaning to it. Jesus’ parables in the Bible were allegories.

The last genres are fantasy, Mythology, and Fables. Fantasy is made up and is sometimes fairy tale stories. Some fantasy stories have farries, dragons, kings, and queens. Mythology is more likely to be a Roman or Greek myth and is sometimes legend. Fables are short stories that teach a life long lesson.

Star Wars, Star Trek and Journey to the Center of the Earth are all examples of Science Fiction. Some examples of Horror are Sherlock Holmes and The Hardy Boys. An example of an Allegory is Pilgrim’s Progress. Some Fantasy genre books are the Lord of the Rings and The Chronicles of Narnia. Some more examples of Mythology is The Illiad and The Oddessy. The last examples of Fables are Aesop’s Fables and The Three Little Pigs.

First, I would want to have an ax to chop down trees and cut vines. I could use the logs to build myself a shelter and the vines could be used to hold the logs in place if they aren’t stable. I could also use the ax for hunting and protecting myself. I could make traps for catching animals and to chop firewood to build fires with to cook and to keep me warm.

The other tool I would want is a hammock. It could help you sleep above the ground where the critters and snakes can’t get you that are on the ground. I could also use it as a fishing net to catch fish with and a water filterer to filter out bugs and mud and large debris to make it safe for me to drink. I could even use if for a blanket if I’m cold and do not have a fire and to use it as a raincoat to protect me from rain. I could use it to turn into a sack to carry fruit in and it can be used to transport logs from one side of the island to the other by putting the logs on the hammock and using the rope to pull it. I could also make a log carrying backpack.