1.  Twice the Trouble (Magical States of America) by John Peel

2.  Einstein Anderson Science Detective:  The Invisible Man and Other Cases by Seymour Simon

3.  How to Eat Fried Worms by Thomas Rockwell

Illustrated Classics

4.  The War of the Worlds by H.G. Wells

5.  The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde by Robert Louis Stevenson

6.  Treasure Island by Robert Louis Stevenson

7.  The Merry Adventures of Robin Hood by Howard Pyle

8.  Ivanhoe by Sir Walter Scott

Is it important to study the stars?  Why or why not?  what's your favorite part of the night sky?

 Yes, I do think astronomy is important.  The stars were the way the wise men and the shepherds came to see baby Jesus.  There are many constellations in the stars that tell stories.  There was Orion who was a hunter.  Somewhere, there is a bull.  Most are from Greek mythology.  My favorite part of the night sky is when it's a cloudless night and you could read a book by the light of the moon.

So to answer the quesiton, yes, I do think astronomy is important.

What are your sleep habits?  Are there rules about when you have to go to bed?  Where's your favorite place to sleep besides your own bed?

 Sure we have rules about when to go to bed.  I just don't follow them.  In fact, just last night I was reading for a while and so was my brother.  Last night I went to bed at 10 because of the Biggest Loser of course.  And I still stayed up after that.  Sometimes I go up to bed at 9 and I stay up reading until 11:30.  The latest I stayed up reading was probably midnight.  My paretns get all over my back because I like to sleep in.  They say it's because I like to stay up late, but that's not true!!!!  I just love to sleep. 

Aside from my own bed, my favorite place to sleep is going to have to be in a hotel.  It's so awesome because most of the time I stay up later at a hotel.  And the beds are so soft and comfy! 

How many chidlren are in your family?  Tell a little something about your brothers and sisters.  If you don't have any brothers or sisters, write about how it feels to be an only child.

 my brother (obove) is tbone i love my brother hes my huck finn while im tom sawyer we are robin hood and will scarlet the perfect pair i dont what i would do if i where an only child.

If you could have any job you wanted.  What would it be?  Don't worry about how much money you'd make, how many years you would have to go to school, or whether you would have the talent and skills.  Would you be a concert pianist, a mountain-climber, a bridge designer?  Tell why you'd choose that job.

I would be a professional archer.  I'm pretty good at it now.  The best score you can get is a 600.  The highest I've gotten is a 559.  So I'm over half way there.  LOL  I have already won regionals twice and took second once.  I have won states once.  And I finished in the top 10 in AA Juniors.  Juniors is ages 12-16 so considering that I was top 10 in 12-16 year olds (and I'm 12) that wasn't too bad.  The first year I shot I took fourth but it was against kids 11 and under.  So, it's not really saying that much.  I took first in kids 11 and under, too, so it wasn't that great.  This year I took 2nd at regionals, which I already told you.  I'm hoping to do a little better at states next year.  I have had four bows in my entire life...well 5 if you count my long bow.  I always aim to get a 600.  I know I'll probably be disappointed, but still. 

Thanks for reading.

Big Mac

A poem in honor of William Shakespeare's Birthday:

My companion and I

Will be where no foot treads

Except for that of the deer

And moccasin of the Indian

Where nature stands still

Long enough for civilization to witness it.

Yes, I am the explorer.

Write about the things your family throws away.  What sort of things go in the garbage?  What gets recycled?  Is there anything that gets thrown away that could be reused or recycled instead?  What are some things you could avoid using in the first place?

Well, some of the things that we throw away are food.  We throw away paper plates.  We throw away shoes.  We throw away all kinds of stuff.  Somethings can be composted, other things we burn.  What we can't do with that, we put into the trash can.  The compost is things that can be decomposed into dirt that start from something and turn into dirt, like eggshells, apple cores or banana peels. 

We throw away paper, that could be reused and recycled.  We throw away paper plates.  They could probably be re-done. 

Some of the things we could avoid using would be paper plates and paper cups.  The things that we get rid of.

Have you ever heard the saying, Rome wasn't built in a day?  This means that it can sometimes take a long time to do something that is worthwhile or complicated.  Write about something you did that took more time or effort than you expected.  How do you feel about the way things turned out?

I have two things that took a lot more effort than expected:

1.  Algebra.  Algebra took a while and I honestly don't think it was worth it.  I'm sure I'll change my mind when I'm older but, right now, it's JUST NOT WORTH IT.  I'm telling you!  It's taking me a while because some subjects are more complicated than other subjects.  And I know I've said it a lot, but it's not worth it. 

2.  Getting braces.  I don't have them yet because I have three extra teeth that need to be surgically removed out of the bottom of my gums.  Pretty interesting huh?  Yeah, braces have been more than they needed to be.  But I think it will end up being worth it.

Pretend that you're involved in some type of disaster.  You will not be hurt but you can only take one thing with you something you can carry on your own.  What will you take and why?

I would take my stuffed animal, "Bear" who I have had since I was 1-day old.  You may think it's silly to take a stuffed animal.  But you can always get more game systems, you can always get another TV.  You can always get more stuff.  But a stuffed animal that you've had since the day after you were born?  You can't get another one.

What's your favorite style of music to listen to?  Country music? Rap? Alternative? Hip-hop? Classical? World beat? Write about why you listen to the music you do and why it's your favorite.

country.

and if you hate and wonder why anyone in there right mind would listen to that.  I think trace atkins but it best when in a song he said that " there songs about me and who i am" listen to it just go to www.youtube.com/songsaboutme it really brings out the best in country music.

Some book covers have descriptions of what happens inside the book.  Because there isn't much space on a book cover, these descriptions are told in just a few words.  Think of your favorite book or story and write a "book cover" for it.

 What can the mighty mini man mario do to get to world 4 battle a bad bos or fight a ferocious foe. well dear reader prepare to find out!

Do you think April Fool's pranks and jokes are funny?  Why or why not?

 yes

Write about what you'd do if you thought you were being treated unfairly, either at home or at school.  How would you make your voice heard?  How would you argue your case?  How would you get support for your cause from others?

"Leave me alone!"  I said as a bully pushed me. 

"What's going on here?"  asked the teacher as he walked up. 

"Nothing Sir!"  said the bully.  "I was just having a little fun with McLane here."

"Leave it to Chad." I thought to myself.  Chad is the one bully in school who will try to defend his case.  There's a bunch of other bullies in school, but none of them come up to Chad.  If you're at least two grades lower than him, guess what?  You're getting bullied. 

As I was walking back to class, Luke and I were talking about what to do about this bullying.  Luke is one of my best friends and he's down a couple grades.  We finally got a plan.  Bully busters, we would call ourselves.  We would save our money and buy a video camera.  And we would walk around trying to bust Chad.  Luke went to the office to see if we could do the news program in the morning.  We got the job.  Once we saved up enough money we got a video camera.  It took month's and months of trying to bust Chad when finally we got our break.  Anthony, my other best friend, was walking down the hall when Chad came out insisting that he give him his money.  Anthony was so scared that he just coughed it right up.  Then when we rejoiced that we had finally gotten some footage Chad saw us with the video camera.  And the chase was on.  Now, Chad's not the most physically fit person in the school, but he is pretty fast because he plays football.  Luke is faster.  He ran as far as he could as fast as he could before he got to the office where we were supposed to do our footage.  I scooted in and locked the door behind us.  As Chad was banging on the door, we started our morning news program. 

"Hello, I'm McLane."

"And I'm Luke."

"And we have actual footage..." I started. 

"That bigfoot is real!"  said Luke. 

"Yes Luke, you're right, he does have very big feet.  We have footage right here that Chad Wentworth is a big big bully.  You watching this teachers?  Good.  Put in the video Luke."

When everybody saw the video, Chad knew he was in huge trouble. 

And that's how I solved my problems

...if I went to school.

This has been an original story by Big Mac

Describe your favorite thing to write or sketch with a pencil.

 Well I really do like to draw.  I like to draw a lot of stuff.  I used to like to draw WWE stuff, wrestling, that kind of stuff.  Now it's just whatever pops into my head is what I like to draw.  Now I draw tigers, ninjas, anything I want to.  I don't really have a theme any more.  But there is kind of an answer there that WWE is what I used to draw a lot.  I liked getting pictures off-line and doing their muscle functions.  That was my favorite thing to do.  I liked watching them do moves.  Whenever you draw finished product that is really good it gives you a good feeling because you know that you did a really good job on it.  And if you like it it doesn't matter what anybody else thinks as long as you like it.

The Star Trek series has many fans who call themselves "Trekkers" or "Trekkies."  Each Trekker has his or her own favorite episode or character fro the original television series, one of the later series or one of the movies.  Write about your favorite Star Trek episode or character.  If you don't know about (or don't like) Star Trek, write about another science fiction story or character.

 Star Trek, huh?  Well I don't know much about that.  But I will tell you about star wars.  Star Wars is basically the same thing as Star Trek only there are jedi's.  Jedi's are people who use light sabers and have a certain kind of ability called the force.  The force allows you to grab throw or even electrify certain things or certain people.  Light sabers can cut through any surface except another light saber.  Each light saber has a crystal in it.  The crystal allows your true colors to come out.  Red means that you're a sith lord or just part of the sith.  Blue, green, yellow, orange, and purple mean that you're the good guys.  Then again, Anniken was a bad guy and had a blue light saber, but that was just because he didn't get a new crystal for it.  Later on in the series, Anniken did get a red light saber but that was because he became Darth Vader, the most sinister Sith Lord of all.  Obi Wan Kenobe is my favorite person.  He has a blue light saber and has been in almost every single episode.  He's been in every episode except episode 5 in which he was just a voice.  Do you know what's weird though?  That the last 3 episodes, episodes 4, 5, and 6 were created BEFORE episodes 1, 2, and 3.  My parents think that the first 3 were episodes 4, 5, and 6.  I say it like it is.  I think that Episodes 1, 2, and 3 were the first ones and the best ones. 

Many people have talked about adding another face to the four already on Mt. Rushmore.  If it were up to you, to make the decision who's face would you add and why?

 I would add Abraham Lincoln's face because he was a great man and he was not in favor of slavery.  He didn't like slavery.  He gave the Gettysburg address which is probably the most famous speech in the history of America.  And he just was a very good man.  He could have hired better body guards though.

What's your favorite way to travel?  Describe it, then tell why you like to travel that way.

 My favorite way to travel, huh?  Well, I don't like to get up in themorning.  I like to sleep, a lot.  so, probably about 10 is when we woud start out after having a nice big breakfast of bacon, sausage, pancakes and egg whites.  I can only eat the egg whites.  Then we would get on our way.  We would only travel for six hours.  Whenever we stopped, we were at the best hotel we could find.  After bringing in only the necessary things in our duffel bags and after unpacking.  We would go down to the pool and swim until probably about 7.  After we were done, we probably would end up going to they gym and working out for a while.  Just for the heck of it.  There are not a lot of gyms where we live, so it would be kind of fun I guess.  We would watch TV until 10.  Then whenever we went to bed we would wake up and repeat the process until we got to our lake resort in Northern Minnesota.  There would be electricity, working bathrooms, but no TV, no radio even, just the sound of the loon.  In mornings we would wake up and go catch fish for breakfast, fish for lunch, and fish for dinner.  Then after breakfast, my brother and I would go swimming until we got called back in for lunch.  After lunch?  You guessed it.  Back swimming.  When dinner came around we would get out of the lake, dry off and go eat supper.  After supper we would all sit on the sofa talking about our day and how much fun we were having.  We would also tell stories and just talk.  We would repeat that process for one week.  Then we would repeat the first process that I said and return home.

The reason I would like to travel this way is that it just seems more fun than waking up at o'dark-thiry and driving for 11 hours until we reach our campsite.  Don't get me wrong.  I love camping.  But for some reason, this would just seem like the perfect way to travel.

To boycott something today means to have nothing to do with it.  For most people, it means not buying certain products, or products made by certain companies.  In the past, people have boycotted grapes and other foods because they weren't picked by union workers.  What are your views on boycotting?  When is boycotting a good thing to do, and when is it not?  Have you ever taken part in a boycott?  If so, what did you boycott and why?

 Well, we almost boycotted something once.  it didn't last too long, though.  My views on boycotting are that sometimes you might have a good reason to boycot, but other times...not so much.  Boycotting grapes is kind of stupid, because I love grapes.  Even if it isn't picked by union workes...it's grapes!  There's no real reason to boycott.  When would I boycott?  I'd probably end up boycotting stuff like certain kinds of clothes that are made by slaves.  Things made in China because they have lead in them.  Boycotting is kind of a good things sometimes, but other times it's just best to go with the flow of things.

1. What is your favorite type of candy?  Anything Hershey's

2. Which food do you despise? creamed spinach and beans

3. What is your favorite animal? I like the bald eagle, very majestic

4. Who is your favorite celebrity? Hunter Hearst Helmsley  AKA The WWE Champion, Triple H

5. Which would you rather have: ten dogs in a one story house, or 10 stinky men in a one story?   Oh, Ten stinky men, duh

6. Have you ever changed a diaper? No

7. If you had one ten thousand pounds of anything, what would it be?   hundred dollar bills

8. Would you rather stand outside in winter apparel when it is 100 degrees outside, or stand in a swimsuit outside in 1 degree weather?     winter apparel

I tag my brother TBone, and my mom LoriLynn