Fantasy Lovers Booklist!

The following list of books/series is for your fantasy lovers out there who have nothing to read! You know who you are! ;)

• The Great Tree of Avalon
• The Lord of the Rings
• The Hobbit
• Eragon
• A Wrinkle in Time
• Artemis Fowl
• Keys to the Kingdom
• Ranger's Apprentice
• Percy Jackson

Most of these are fairly well known, and the target ages vary, but they are all excellent!

:)

Frog Tongue?

So, today my grandma made me popcorn.

As I was eating the popcorn, I realized I could pull in popcorn with my tongue. Weird isn't it?

I probably isn't anything supernatural, but it's cool. :3

SilverDawn's Header

SilverDawn, although I completely failed to mention this, you sort of unofficially won the header contest! :)

But, your header was swallowed in my inbox! D:

Could you please post it on here?
Thank you so much!

:D

~Quinn

Anne of Green Gables - Book Review

Hello! This is Dawn, here with a book review of the classic Anne of Green Gables by L. M. Montgomery. 

Mathew Cuthbert, a shy old bachelor, gets a start when, upon arriving at the train station to pick up the boy he was adopting to help him maintain the farm, nobody is waiting on the platform except one small person with red hair, wearing the most awful clothes you ever saw. And this person is a girl.

The Station Master verifies everything; no boy got off the train at this station, only this girl did – and what was more, she was waiting for Mr. Mathew Cuthbert.

Mathew had never been more bewildered. He had always had a horror of females, except his sister, Marilla, who he lived with. He couldn’t bring himself to tell this girl that there had been some mistake, and that she must leave on the next train back to wherever she came from. No, he’d better bring her back to Green Gables, and get Marilla to sort things out.

On the way back to Green Gables, the girl told him all about how she is so delighted that she will finally stop being Anne of Nowhere in Particular, and become Anne of Green Gables. She related about how she is an orphan, and had been living in an orphan asylum. Everything had been very dull, but she spent her time by imagining things about the other orphans.

By the time they get to Green Gables, Mathew has heard so much about the girl’s imaginings, wishes, and hopes, that he finds himself persuading Marilla to have them keep the child. And many adventures follow.

I loved this story for many reasons, the major one being its lovely protagonist. Anne Shirley is the perfect main character, an imaginative, lovable, well-meaning, creative girl with a knack of getting into the most awful scrapes. Anne believes she is ugly, but to me she is extremely beautiful, with her thick, wavy red hair and freckles – just how I wish I look.

This story is written in a lovely, flowery way. It is loved by children as young as seven, and perfect for nine to fourteen-year-olds – although I certainly can’t picture anyone growing out of it! I have read it over and over again, and when I lost the book I had to find some other way to read it, so I looked it up on the Internet and found myself reading it online. I can be completely definite that I will still be reading this book by the time I am over a hundred!

Nobody can look up from the last page of Anne of Green Gables without a thirst for more – but don’t worry, there are seven more books! 

Header Contest

The header contest has been extended!
Until we get 5 entries or October 31, whichever comes first. :3

I don't know about the prizes...

Maybe, if one of the other, better-at-drawing authors could do a commissioned work?

Is that okay?

Do you like the new playlist?

I made it Lord of the Rings-y and Hobbit-y. :)

Book Review: Percy Jackson and the Lightning Thief!

Hooray for first book reviews!

As the title says, I'm going to review a pretty popular book: Percy Jackson! I love Greek Mythology, so I figured I'd give the book a try.

The story is a boy named Percy finds out he's half mortal, half Greek god. He's brought to a camp for kids like him, that are also demigods. 

So far, I'm really liking the book. Can't stop reading it. So much suspense, excitement...

I give it a 9 out of 10!

Anyone Else?

Is anyone else excited for The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug coming out?


I am! :D




Desolation: (noun) a state of emptiness and/or destruction.

Quinn's bday!

So, according to her AJ username, Quinn's birthday was yesterday! Happy birthday Quinn! Anything you want me to make for you? Any animation? Any art? Anything?

Art! Yay!

Hooray for Nebula posting her magical-but-not-so-magical art! It'll be separated into categories.

Nebula the winged Russian Blue kitteh

Nebula is a little Russian Blue cat, made to represent me. I forget her wings a lot. >.<

Her tail looks as if paint is dabbed onto it, and occasionally a few butterflies fly around it.



"But I need my art supplies!"



She's angry and poorly drawn.



What a fluffy tail!


Pikmin

I LOVE Pikmin. For those of you who don't know what Pikmin is, it's a real-time video game where you crash land on an uncharted planet, and little plant-like creatures called Pikmin help you.



This is a rock pikmin, from the third pikmin game. It's not drawn that great but oh well.



A bulborb, the pikmin's natrual predator.





Aaaand, that's about it for now. Pikmin and Nebula Night... wow.... yay...

Guess what Nebula got~♪

Poison ivy. Hooray for blisters. >.<

Header Contest! :D

We have 4 authors now, which means the header is a little outdated! (but still awesome :3)

So, we are hosting a header contest!

Anyone can enter!
Just design an educational/learning/book themed header, and send it to me at cheesevms915@gmail.com!

Please send all entries by September 31. The voting will be from October 1 to October 7.
I am not yet sure what the prize will be...

May the best header win!

Nebula's Corner

I added my own page! Hurry, go and see!

Allow me to introduce myself!

Hello there! I am NebulaNight, the newest author of Brains and Books!

You'll be seeing my art around here, some of my stories, and other funny, and useful articles. I can't wait to meet you all!

I'd like to thank Quinn for inviting me over to help with this blog. I'm happy to become a part of the Brains and Books community!

That's all for now!

~Nebula Night

Immunity and Poison Ivy

   Two days ago, me and my friend Erin where doing random stuff. She wanted to show me a sticky substance. We walked over to where she found it. Then she began swatting around aimlessly!

  Then I saw bright orange random flying things in all directions!


"Run! Run! There are 7 bees attacking me!" She yelled. Quite concerned, I stayed until she stopped swatting at her legs. Then I ran with her.


So, basically, me and Erin got attacked by Mud Wasps. But, I thought I didn't get stung. I didn't feel a thing. Nothing at all... Until a happening from my past sparked my imagination!


This post is about IMMUNITY.

I am party immune to POISON IVY. Here are some facts about poison ivy and being immune to poison ivy.

How do you get poison ivy?

From touching it, or touching something that has touched it, like your clothes or your dog. You normally get it from touching the leaves, but yanking the vine out by the roots - even in winter - will give you a wicked rash. Using a weed eater to remove poison ivy will result in spraying your legs with poison ivy. If you are bare-legged and get scratches while splattered with sap from poison ivy, you may be headed to the emergency room. And there are more unusual ways to get it, like breathing smoke from firewood burning with poison ivy on it. Which can also put people into the hospital. What about immunity? Some people appear to be immune, others become immune. HOWEVER, you can gain or lose immunity, so to assume you can't get it if you never have before is foolish. People change as they age. I would never assume that I was immune at any time no matter what my past experience was.

Website: Poison Ivy FAQ Well, I assume I must continue my story now.

Well, so I was in our tent. There was a wasp in the back of it but heck, I didn't know! Lol, anyway, I went to touch it. Then it stung me on the finger. I didn't feel a thing. It kinda tickled! :P But I decided to leave. SO I AM IMMUNE TO MANY THINGS. Such as.... Poison Ivy Sun burn Bee stings And that's all I know! Awkward post huh? lol!

Good Ways to Train Your Detective Skills

Thinking of becoming a detective, eh? Here are some good ways to train your detective skills!

• Somebody sends you an email, and you don't know what operating system they use. Try and guess by their typos - Windows and Macs have different keyboards.Then ask them to see if you're right.
• If you're going up to someone, either after or before you've said "hello" you can try to guess what they had for breakfast. You can do this by their smell, breath, whether they're panting or not (if it's soon after breakfast on a hot day), etc. Then ask them what they had, and see how close you were. 
• Somebody is speaking foreign to a friend of theirs. You've no idea what language they're speaking, but try to guess where they're from from their appearance, facial expression, the sound of their language, etc. Then ask them to see if you're right.
• Try and guess if somebody has a pet, and what it is. Then ask them to see if you're right. 
• If you're in a queue in a supermarket, look at the person in front of you's shopping, and try and guess what's going on in their life - do they have a pet, children, are they having a party soon, etc. Then ask them to see if you're right. 
• Try and read what a person is like by looking into their face. A good way of doing this is guessing what sort of book they like to read, and then asking them. You can also tell such things by their clothes. 

Et cetera! Don't pry into other people's business, though, nor ask random people questions as they may not like it. 

Good luck! ;b

 

Splendors and Glooms

Hullo! QuinnTheCat/vms915 here, just to make a short post on a recommended book.

Read:

Yup.

Fact: It won the 2013 Newbery Honor award.


:)

~Quinn~

Wattpad

Does anybody have a Wattpad?

I'm kind of hoping I can get one!


:)

Book Feature: Virals

Hey there book-people who are viewing this blog!

Today I will post a short blurb about one of my favorite books!

The book is Virals.

Credit for this summary goes to Wikipedia.
Tory and her friends find a rusted dog tag dating from the Vietnam War era on Loggerhead Island, and trying to identify its owner leads them to an unsolved murder and infection by an experimental virus that gives them special powers.

I would recommended this book for older kids. (Anyone over 12)
But, that does not mean that anyone under 12 can't read it! I read it when I was 11, and became instantly hooked!

There are two more books in the series after Virals: Seizure and Code.

The author is Kathy Reichs.

Virals involves wit, humor, mystery, action, and science, all perfectly blended to form one perfect novel!

~vms915/QuinnMF

Post for Avvy & SilverDawn

Other people, you don't have to look at this. This is just because I'm NM on Animal Jam and can't respond to a Jam-a-Gram, and this is the blog that both of them look at, and not to many other people, so it won't be weird. >.<

Avvy: I didn't get the Sweet Walls yet, and I have no idea what for them. >.<
I have no idea what they are worth!

SilverDawn: I didn't get the Walls yet. If you have sent them, something probably messed up (the same happened with a thing of MisterChunkyBuddy's...AJ is wacky :P). If you haven't, do you think I could trade them with Kinyonga? We're on at about the same time...then I can trade with Avvy!
Sorry to trouble you, Dawn!




XP


Sorry for all that!
~vms915/QuinnMF

Some Art by Me!

Here are a few pieces of art I've drawn by hand! :)

(don't judge my squirrel :3)

Here are a few pieces I've done on the computer!

And, modular origami I made for our state fair!

:)


~vms915

Spelling, puncuation, grammar! Or really?

Hello! :D This is Dawn! 

I decided to post on balance. 

'If you're posting on balance, then why is the title "Spelling, puncuation, grammar! Or really?"?'

Good question. Well, basically because I'm posting on the balance between spelling, punctuation and grammar with imagination, creativity, and inspiration. 

You really need both. If you have SPG but no ICI (can't you guess what those stand for? XD) then your writing will be correct but unappealing and uninteresting. On the other hand, if you have ICI but no SPG then your writing will be fun to read but incorrect. 

Like everything, it just takes balance! :D

If the authors know anyone who would like to be an author, please send them an invite!

Note

If you want to be an author and post cool brain and book related stuff, send me an email at:

cheesevms915@gmail.com

Poetry...about poems, plus some by me

Hello! This is Dawn! ^.^

One thing I love to do is write poetry. The thing about poetry is that you need inspiration. You can write stories without inspiration if you have imagination, but with poetry you need both (inspiration also helps for writing stories, of course). One good description of poetry is "the right words in the right order''.  Poems do not have to rhyme, but good rhymes make a poem lovely. Poems can be funny, beautiful, tragic, moving, anything, or a mix of things, of course. :) 

Now, here are some of my poems! :3

                    Mozzi, Mozzi in The Car

By Kinyonga, SilverDawn, and their mother

Mozzi, mozzi, in the car, 

I am sure you've gone to far.

You must mend your evil ways, 

Before I use my sprays!

Oh, you little pest, 

I'm sure you've done your best, 

To horrify the nation, 

And disgust the population!

The Rain

By SilverDawn

Hear the Rain!

Drumming on the rooftops, 

Splashing in a puddle!

You are left in a muddle,

So think again, 

Is the Rain a pain?

The answer is no,
The Rain is a wonder,
As not many know!

It can save the crops,
With its little drops!

Today We Went To The Stream
By SilverDawn

Today we went to the stream, 

The sun was all of a beam!

We gave some biscuit to the neighbour's horses, 

But when we ventured into the horses' paddock, 

We had to run with all our forces, 

Unless we wanted to be reduced to mushed haddock!

We waded into the stream, 

The water was warmer than it would seem!

I got my dress quite wet, 

But that was no reason to fret!

We had a very nice time, 

And we'll be back again soon to pick some thyme!

Treacle
By SilverDawn

Poet's Note: For those of you who didn't know, Treacle is our three-legged cat ^.^  

Trifoot tornado

Radiant

Energetic

Adorable

Cute :3

Lovable

Extremely fluffy

    

 

**Note from Kinyonga - Meep! :3 Does anyone here have a cure for stupid rhymes? I mean, while I'm (for instance) tidying, I start garbling ridiculous stuff...

E.g. The end of the world is nigh! So come and say bye-bye! Everyone is sad, including the prime minister...

Then I couldn't find a rhyme for "minister" >.<  

Please tell me if you have a cure! :3**

Teehee, just like Kiny (she is my big sister). :3

   

Capacity

If you're trying to find capacity, such as how many square cubic yards are in such and such box, you must do the following.


Say the box, - which will always be three dimensional - two faces of 16 cubic units, and the rest of 12 cubic units, you'd understand the base should be 4x3, right? So, now, let's find the cubic units in all!

Remember,

Length x Width x Height = Your number!

So, the 4x3 tells us that we have the length, 4, and the width, 3.

Now to find the height.

First, you remember, it's 12 and 16. It's vertical, so it's not 3 high. It's 4 high! Time to multiply...

(4x3)x4= 48.

48 cubic units!

Hello!

Hello! :3

I have recently been made a contributor to this blog. Thank you!!! :D :D You may know me as SilverDawn, Dawn Woodlands, Philly Woodlands, or possibly StarryGem or Rainydawn. (By the way, about the Dawn/Philly Woodlands thing, my pen-name used to be Philly but then I had to change it to Dawn due to other meanings of the word "philly".)

Anyway, a bit about me. I'm 11 years old (if you think you're looking at this a while after I've written it, check the posted date, as years may have passed). I like:

• Horses
• All animals
• All nature
• Art
• Writing
• Reading 
• Geography
• History
• Fudge
• Blogging

I like a lot of other things as well, but that's the top...erm...nine. Well, I'll add another one, to make it ten. *Adds blogging.*

I would like to ask vms915 if it would be correct for me to post about writing and drawing on here (as well as, of course, posting my writing and drawings). I may also post (again, if it is correct) book reviews and other random things. :)

 PS. If anyone would like a signature like mine (or even not like mine), click here! ^.^

Talking Words

Hello fellow writers!

Many times, writers find it hard to come up with alternate words when writing. This includes words for dialogue (if that's the right word: I don't know the difference between that and dialog. :P).

Here are a list of great words for dialogue, from Wikipedia:

acknowledged, agreed, announced, answered, asked, asserted, articulated, argued, babbled, barked, begged, belched, bellowed, boomed, claimed, commented, communicated, complained, conceded, concluded, confirmed, contended, continued, declared, denied, described, drawled,drooled, echoed, inquired, exclaimed, explained, expressed, found, gasped, gestured, giggled, granted, grumbled, hinted, hollered, illustrated, implied, informed, insisted, jeered, laughed, maintained, mentioned, mumbled, muttered, nagged, narrated, noted, observed, offered, ordered, panted, pleaded, pointed out, puffed, questioned, recounted, refuted, related, reminded, repeated, replied, reported, responded, restated, revealed, sang, screamed, scoffed, shouted, sighed, simpered, smiled, snapped, sneered, snickered, sniffed, speculated, spewed, sputtered, squeaked, squealed, stated, suggested, supposed, told, uttered, voiced, warbled, warned, went, whined, whispered, yelled


Proofreading tip: Never have the word "said" too many times. When proofreading, and if you find this, replace the word "said" with some of the words above. Make sure the context is correct, though.



You can still use the word "said," but balance it out with other words. If you do use "said," you can always add in an adverb, to improve the effect of the dialogue.

Examples:


"Gee, what a great teacher," Holly said sarcastically.
"That Seth kid thinks he's so great," Jerry said disdainfully, "but he's just a great windbag."
"Hello all! Great morning, isn't it?" Christine said cheerfully.

*note from a writer: This may just be a personal preference, but try not to use the word "reply" to much when inserting dialogue. Like I said, this may just be me, but it is kind of a bulky but delicate word, and should be used sparingly.*



Peace out, writers!

Y U NO POST?

Hey there, to the few readers of this blog! I sincerely apologize...since I, nor has Avvy, posted in about a month. >.<

Not good.


But, I made a decision....I hope, Avvy, that you don't mind. ^.^


Why just post edumacational stuff?

Why not post other things?


So....this is becoming my first collaboration blog! If you do anything that requires brain powah, like do art, do math, program computers (JK! I doubt anyone but me is interested in that :P), write, and so much more, we'd love to have you on this blog!


So, just comment your email if you want to become an author, or, if you don't like sharing your email, email your email address to me at cheesevms915@gmail.com.




^.^

I Need Luck Too!

  I need some luck too! On Tuesday my school has MCAS long composition! I'm expected to get a 6 (highest score) by my WHOLE ENTIRE school board! I've been shaky all day. We had an MCAS test on Thursday, and I finished it. My teacher didn't give us a score though. UGH =.=.... This will be 6 whole paragraphs for the state of Massachusetts and my WHOLE school district. Well.. It makes me afraid.






This is a score 1, and some people might get them in my class.


The internet wont show me a score 6.. >:(.

Anyway, I'm freaked out!

I need some luck!

I need some luck for tomorrow and Monday!

Why?

I am going to the academic team STATE competition.

Wow!
Yay!
Coo!
Yah!

Any other three-lettered exclamation word!

I am also taking an individual assessment at state. In Language Arts category. So, I may post some Language Arts topics.

Wish meh luck!

Algecraic (I got lazy. 10:00 pm. Gimme a Break T.T)

Ok. My teacher taught the class a form of algebra he called algebraic. It's pretty simple.

 

 

 

 

    First, make the fraction you want to see is.... Say 2/4

 

 

 

  Then you put the fraction your trying to find the top thingy on (it's 10:00pm, gimme a break T.T) and put it next to it.

 

 

2/4 X/24

 

 

4 x 6 = 24 so you put a 6 there in-between.

 

 

 

   The you put a 6 on top of the other...

 

 

    2 x 6 = 12

 

 

 

TA DA.

 

 

 



Love, Stargirl

Rave in a nutshell:  If you haven't read the first book, Stargirl, I highly recommend it. Jerry Spinelli outdid himself. Again.

Overview:  After moving from Arizona, Stargirl Caraway is having to deal with her new life in Pennsylvania without her old boyfriend, Leo. To relieve herself of the pain of not being able to describe her new life to Leo, she writes him a letter, which is basically a record of her life in her first year in Pennsylvania.

Critique corner: I enjoyed the format that the book was written in, because it gave Stargirl a chance to express her life. Although it was intended to be a letter, throughout the book, I noticed that it was becoming more of a journal of events that happened in the novel, with added narration from Stargirl. Spinelli knew that a cross between a letter and a journal would best reflect upon Stargirl's personality, and that is how he wrote the book. When I was reading the book, I felt as though it was Stargirl herself telling me her story. That is what Spinelli intended, and that is what happened. Spinelli used his genius mind and crafted a one-in-a-kind character, that will keep you begging for another installment in her life.

Please post comments with your opinions about the book, or recommendations for a book. Keep reading!

First Topic: Prime Factorization

This is the first topic I've ever covered here, so I hope you find this helpful and informative!
The topic is prime factorization. Now, for my "topics", I will cover a range of things of all grade levels and subjects. If you know how to do this already, that is O K. This is kind of a test post. However, if you don't know about this topic, then I hope you can benefit from it.

Prime factorization is where you break a number down into its prime factors. A factor is any number multiplied by another number to equal a product.
Examples of factors:

2 * 3 = 6
The factors are 2 and 3.

To prime factorize a number, you can use the branching method or the stacking method.

Branching:

I can't really type this, but I can put a picture:

So, basically, you break the original number down two factors at a time.
Let's try 24.

12 and 2 are two factors, or "branches" of 24.

                 24
       12                 2
2 is prime, so you can't do anything to it. Now let's look at 12.

4 and 3 are two factors of 12

                   12
            4             3
3 is prime, so let's look at 4.
4 has two factors: 2 and 2.

            4
      2            2

So, go through your final "tree" and find all prime factors.

                            24
                   12               2
             3            4
                     2           2
So, the prime factorization of 24 is:

3 * 2 * 2 * 2

The other method is stacking.
You write the number you are trying to factorize at the top. In this case, 24.

                                    24
Next, draw an inverted long division sign on the number.

                                |24
Kind of like that.
Next, you write one prime factor of the number outside the "stack".

                            2|24
Now, divide 24 by the prime first prime factor, and write the result under 24, and form another "stack".

                            2|24
                                |12
Repeat until you cannot divide the number inside the stack any more.

                            2|24
                               2|12
                                  2|6
                                     3
The numbers outside of the stacks are the prime factors.




Here are some sample problems:

1) 32
2) 76
3) 15
4) 51
5) 145
6) 108
7) 225
8) 81
9) 102
10) 1000


If you have any questions, please email me at inquirzoom@gmail.com.

I hope that helped!

If a Tree Falls at Lunch Period

Name: If a Tree Falls at Lunch Period

Author: Gennifer Choldenko

Cover:

Recommended ages: 12 and up

Content material may not be easy for younger students to understand, including racism and stereotypes. 

Recommended gender: All

There is some "girl material" in the novel, but not much. 

Summary (inside of book jacket) :

Two kids. Two lives. For Kirsten the world is crumbling. Her parents are barely speaking to one another and her best friend has come under the spell of the queen bee Brianna. Only Kirsten's younger science-geek sister is on her side. For Walker the goal is to survive the new very white private school his mom has sent him to because she thinks he's going to screw up like his cousin. "Don't have to worry, Momma, before I go bad I'll let you know, send a Hallmark card ready made for the occasion...on the eve your son messes up." But Walk is a good kid. So is his new friend, Matteo, though no one knows why Matteo will do absolutely anything that hot blond Brianna asks of him. Two worlds collide in one compelling story. Then suddenly Kirsten discovers something that shakes them to their core... "You knew all along," Walk says. "No, I didn't." "You're lying. You found out and then you told the whole world..."

Review: 

I had to read this book for my academic team individual assessment. I read it once, and read it again. And again. And again. This is one of those books that lends itself to be read over and over. It deals with many problems that middle school kids face: popularity, friends, self-image, and more. Kirsten's story tells how appearance doesn't matter unless you make it matter. Throughout the book, she begins to care less and less about her extra weight, because she realizes that what matters is that your personality fits into the world, not your looks, or who you are associated with. Walk's story tells how it doesn't matter what somebody is born, but what they turn out to be (Harry Potter quote alert!). Walk's world and Kirsten's world soon collide in an unexpected twist. The plot is full of rich detail, not to mention twists and turns, and the characters are masterfully described. Gennifer Choldenko has outdone herself yet again.

Rating: 

Recommended for viewers to read: Yes

vms915 signing off, after her first new book post!

Return!

I apologize. I have not posted on this blog in a looonnnnggg time. Well, I may as well reveal the truth about this blog.
I created this blog about a year ago, as a project for my Language Arts class. I did a couple of more reviews of books, still for Language Arts, but then I stopped posting.

Well...

I am going to post again!

I am also going to make this blog a bit more public.

From now on, I will post on:

> Knowledge-related topics, like mini lessons in math, language arts, etc.
> Book reviews.

I am open to read any books you suggest, and review them as well!

I hope you enjoy the reviews!