Civil War Reading Response

Dear Mr.Daw,

This Civil War book I have just finished reading is called "The Diary of Clotee a Slave Girl" by Patricia C.McKassack this book made me feel sad because many people had died. No one in my family is died yet but I know how Clotee is feeling. This book is just right to me because understand what is happening, but in the beginning the book was kind of confusing because I didn't know what was happening in the beginning.

One character that changed was Hince because before Spicy had come he wasn't very happy and when Spicy came Hince was very happy and liked Spicy. Another character change was Clotee, in the beginning she was very happy but later on a lot of characters in the book die so she becomes very sad. She is also very mad at Master Henley because he killed most of Clotee's friend or you can say the slaves that Master Henley owned. I think that the authors message is that people kill people when they don't obey what the person is saying when it is a African-American.


This book is about a slave who knew how to read and write. She keeps it a secret. She trust's her friends but doesn't want to tell anyone. Clotee the slave wants to know what abolish means. So she looks in Mas' Henley's room and finds some newspapers and looks in it. Mas Henley and his friend are always talking about abolish. One day Wook, and Reggie got married. Wook and Reggie got a baby named Noah. One day Wook, Reggie, and Noah ran away and when they were at the river Wook and Noah drounded and Reggie was going to run away but Mas' Henely shoots him. One day William Mas' Henely's son goes out and rides a horse. William tells Uncle Heb that his father told him he could ride the horse. Uncle Heb believed William that he could so Wiliam got on the horse and starts to ride. When William comes back Uncle Heb finds out that William is badly hurt, and got his leg broken so William had to ride on a wheelchair. When Mas' Henely's hears about this he whipped Uncle Heb until he died. Later on in the book William gets a tutor named Mr.Harms. He finds out that Clotee can read and write and he is also helping in the Underground Railroad with a man. At first Clotee thought that he would protect Reggie, Wook, and baby Noah but he didn't. At the last part of the book what happens is that Clotee is safe and she is very happy.

March 9, 2010 My Brother Stevie

Dear Mr, Daw,

I finished reading a book called My Brother Stevie By: Eleanor Clymer. This book made me feel sad because Stevie and Annies mother ran away from them because Stevie wasn't behaving. I can relate to this because sometimes I am not behaving. This helps me because I know how it feels like to be not behaving. This is a just right book because I understand every word in the book and I know what is going on.

Stevie changed in the book because in the beginning Stevie was messing around the subway throwing rock at the train. But soon he learns that it is very dangerous to do that because people in the train can get hurt. Annie also changed in the book because in the beginning Annie got really mad at Stevie and couldn't trust him because he was throwing rocks at the train. But soon Annie is trusting Stevie because Stevie is learning not to throw rocks at the train.

This book is about a boy named Stevie not behaving so his mother runs away. Stevie and Annie Stevie's sister has to live in their grandmothers house because their dad had died and their mother ran away. Stevie's grandmother is more of an peaceful person and thinks that Stevie's mother is childish because she dance's around the living room when she is happy. One day Annie saw Stevie throw rocks at the train and went home. When Annie went home she saw Stevie and asked where he went. Stevie said nothing. Then Annie knew where to go to make Stevie stop throwing rocks at the train. The next day Annie went to Stevie's teacher called Mrs.Stover she said that she would take Stevie's class out and have them sit inside the train so they know how it feels like. Something else she said was that her mother was already died. When Mrs. Stover and Skipper goes out of town because her mother is very ill. When Annie and Stevie hears about this Annie is wondering why did Mrs.Stover have to leave? Annie went to her piggy bank and looks at how much money she has. Annie didn't have enough money so she went to her friend and asks her if she could lend some money. The next day Annie tells Stevie to pack is bags, Annie tells her grandmother that she decides that she wants to bring Stevie to a show that Annie was suppose to go with her friends, instead she takes Stevie on the train to Mrs.Stover in Hacketville New York. When Annie and Stevie get to Hacketville they go to a store and ask for Mrs.Stover. The people who were working there didn't know who Mrs.Stover was because Mrs.Stover's mom was Mrs.Carter. When Annie and Stevie finally found out where Mrs.Stover lived they took the cab and went to her house. When Annie and Stevie got to Mrs.Stovers house they wait. Stevie went out and played with the other boys. When Mrs.Stover came Annie asked why Mrs.Stover said her mother was died. Mrs.Stover explained that she had a foster mother because her mother had died. Annie and Stevie called their Grandmother and told her that they were safe. After a few days Annie and Stevie had to go home.