Reading response: The Sliver Bowl

   Everyone has heard of curses and kingdoms, and magic. The Silver Bowl by Diane Stanley is about a girl named Molly who sees visions, and they always come true. When Molly works as she polishes the castle's silver pieces, and she finds the king's ceremonial hand basin. Whenever Molly touches the hand basin, the silver warms, and the design in the bowl show a vision that only Molly sees. She finds out that 100 curses had been befallen on the royal family of Westria. With her friends, Tobias and Winifred, she tries to stop the curses before they kill the last heirs of the kingdom.
  In the book, Molly is mistreated by the other workers of the castle because she is just a scullery maid, and they couldn't care less about her. But throughout the book, she finds she has these abilities for a reason, and in the end, she comes out rich and a lady in the royal court. Turns out that she and her friend Tobias are so rich, they don't know what to do with all that money. This relates to bullying because some people who are bullied might be the ones who the bullies work for in the near future. It shows that because most of the servants despise Molly, but at the end of the book, she becomes a lady in the court because of her good deeds to her kingdom, such as saving Prince Alaric, who is now the king of Westria.
   In conclusion, The Silver Bowl relates to bullying because of the mistreatment to Molly since she is a scullery maid, and in the end, the other servants now work for her other than her companion, Tobias. This relates to bullying because people get bullied, but in the future, the victims would be in a higher status then the bullies that tease him or her.

Reading Response: From Baghdad, With Love: A Marine, The War, and a Dog Named Lava

  This book is about how a marine named Jay Kopelman in Iraq, and how he tried to get a stray puppy named Lava back to the United States during a war in 2004. In the book, him and other fellow Marines learn the lessons about life and war while trying to get Lava to the United States. The book is written in many different perspectives like Jay Kopelman. In the book, many other people such as journalist Anne and several soldiers in the base at Iraq. Throughout the book, the author Jay talks about his feelings about war, life, and death, as well as his time of taking care of Lava and his time during the war. He also writes the difficult process of getting Lava to a safe place, and to avoid letting him roam the streets, where dogs eating corpses is typical. Some of them include getting Lava a passport, vaccinations, and to sneak him onto a plane to America.
   This book also includes the soldier's doubts about taking care of Lava when military laws forbid soldiers taking care of stray animals other than their dags that are trained to sniff out bombs and such. In the book, it also says that death in the war wasn't very rewarding, and that they don't get respect. Instead, they are taken and examined for any strapped bombs, and then sent to a camouflage refrigerator. He also says that either if you are an enemy to them or not, once you're dead, you're no longer dangerous to those people.
   I like how in the book, he talks about his theories of war and the rescuing of Lava, as well as his affection for the dog throughout the book. It shows that no matter how rough the war is, the caring for Lava can keep you sane and happy, sometimes.