Swindle

"Readers will enjoy the page-turning adventure, the quirky characters and the revenge factor. This book is destined to become a favorite read-aloud for librarians and classroom teachers. It is a must-have for middle school libraries." - Children's Literature. Probably this is the best way you can describe the book 'Swindle' by Gordon Korman. 

Plot of the Story: When 6^th grader Griffin Bing finds a valuable baseball card and he goes to a shop to sell it. When he gets home he realizes that he has been swindled. The worker who worked there only gave him a fraction of the money it was worth. So Griffin calls some of his friends to steal back the card. And in return they each will split up the money evenly. Now, they have to over smart the swindle. The gang of friends has to overcome an aggressive mean guard dog, state-of-the art military security system and so on. In addition to that the most devastating challenge is they are just 6^th graders and cannot DRIVE! Will they be successful or will they give up? To find out read the book. But I have some better news to know about the story; you can watch the movie which will be aired on Nickelodeon Channel. You can find about it HERE.   

Read More

The 39 Clues: Cahills VS. Vespers

The 39 Clues series are full with danger, excitement, puzzles, and keeps readers on the edge of their seat. This is the second collection of the New York Times bestselling series. It’s my personal favorite as it consists of heart pounding adventures,and cryptic riddles. In this series there are 6 books: The Medusa Plot, A King’s Ransom, The Dead of Night, Shatterproof, Trust No One, and Day of Doom.

The plot of the story: When thirteen year old Dan Cahill and his older sister Amy, thought they could come back and settle down from the clue hunt, but they were wrong. A shadowy organization called the Vespers has kidnapped 7 members of the Cahill family. There is only one way to get them back. The leader of the Vespers, Vesper 1, told Amy and Dan that he would release the hostages if they completed a series of ransoms. These ransoms are no easy tasks. They involve stealing priceless artifacts and finding objects that haven’t been found in years in only a matter of days. What happens if they don’t accomplish the ransom? The failure of one ransom costs a hostage’s life. Will they succeed? Lives are on the line. To find out, don’t miss The 39 Clues: Cahills VS. Vespers.           

Read More

The Potful of Wisdom

The stories of Birbal always have been my all-time favorites. Today, I am going to share one of my favorite stories. This story is special to me as my great-grandpa used to tell my mom and my mom told this story to me. Hope you’ll enjoy it too.

One day, an envoy from the court of the kingdom of Ceylon came to Emperor Akbar’s court on an unusual mission. He announced, “I have been sent by my king to ask you for a potful of wisdom. You have very wise men at your court, so my king’s request will be fulfilled here. ” Everybody including Akbar was surprised by this strange request. Was it ever possible to accomplish this request? Emperor Akbar knew only Birbal could solve this mystery. Birbal had proved himself to be the most reliable minister at the court, time and again. So Akbar ordered Birbal to take care of this matter. Birbal assured him that the king of Ceylon would have his potful of wisdom. But to finish this task he asked for some time-perhaps a few weeks. The envoy agreed for this.

That evening Birbal sent for his attendant to bring a few clay pots with narrow necks. When he came back, Birbal told him to follow him to the pumpkin patch. Then Birbal carefully placed the pot over a pumpkin flower. Next, he directed the attendant to place the other pots the same way. When he finished placing the last pot, Birbal said, “Keep an eye on the pots and don’t let them be moved. I’ll have them collected later.”

After few weeks the Emperor asked Birbal if he had finished the task. Birbal replied, “I should be able to have the pot filled in a fortnight.” A fortnight later, he came to the pumpkin patch to check on the pots. He was very pleased to see the pumpkins were as big as the pots. He was very satisfied with his attendant’s work. Later Birbal had the envoy summoned to the court. He informed that the potful of the wisdom is ready. The next moment his attendant came, in carrying a tray with a pot in it. Birbal presented the pot to the envoy and enunciated to the envoy, ”You may take this to your king. But our valuable pot must be returned empty and intact. The fruit of wisdom that it contains, to be of any value, must be removed without a scratch!” Birbal also added that they had more if the king needed any extra wisdom.

 The envoy asked the Emperor permission to leave and returned to his country. He offered the potful of wisdom to the king and informed the king of Birbal’s message. When king took a look of the pot, he just found a pumpkin inside the pot. He realized that there is no match for Birbal. He admired Birbal a lot.

Back at the court, Emperor Akbar eagerly wanted to eye Birbal’s pot of wisdom. To his surprise, it was just a pumpkin inside the pot. He was very pleased with Birbal. Once again, Birbal saved the Emperor’s honor!!!

Read More

Winter The Dolphin

On December 10, 2005 a 2 month old dolphin was found off the coast of Mosquito Lagoon trapped in a crab trap. Jim Savage , a fisherman, found the dolphin and decided to free it. After he freed the dolphin he called Fish And Wildlife Conservation Commission. The rescue party came and took her back to the center. Since the dolphin was found in the season of winter, they decided to call her Winter. Winter was placed in a holding tank. But the unfortunate dolphin lost her tail because of the rope that was wrapped around Winter's tail when she got trapped. All that was left was a stump. So Winter worked in her new condition by moving the stump from side to side ( a dolphin's tail usually moves up and down ). Although this method of swimming may be useful for the dolphin, it prevented her muscles from growing properly. A prosthetic limb maker, Kevin Carrol decided to help Winter by making a prosthetic tail. When the tail was completed they put it on Winter. Winter had to be retrained to swim the correct way as dolphins should swim. However, Winter can only wear her new tail for a hour or less each day because if she wears it too long, it will damage her skin. Today, Winter is very healthy and happy at Clearwater Marine Aquarium at Florida.

   

The movie, 'Dolphin Tale' is inspired by Winter's story and the real winter plays herself in it. I really like  movies based on true stories. Because of this movie, I get to know about Winter's fight for survival visually. What I like the most about Winter is she didn't relinquish the fight. It was really hard for everyone as nobody was certain about her fate. But there was a miracle and Winter's story has a happy ending. After all,we do love happy endings, don't we ?

You can meet Winter HERE.

Read More

Masters of Disaster

                 

by Gary Paulsen

"Lets face facts: we  may be the most boring twelve-year olds on the planet."  This is how Henry Mosley delineates their life to his best pals, Reed Hamner and Riley Dollen. Eventually, he convinces them to go on  extreme adventures. This leads them to attempting craziest ideas like riding a bicycle off a roof, camping out alone in the woods, trying to solve a hundred-year old murder, inside a bull riding ring and much more. I'm not going to ruin your hilarious experience by describing all of it. Henry always comes up with the  scariest ideas, Riley researches things , and dreadful Reed has to do Henry's ideas. I hit my funny bone after their mishaps. 

I can totally relate to characters and the plot of this book because me and my friends always do crazy stuff. The incidents in the book remind me of our real life disasters. I've read this book multiple times, and every time I find it equally amusing. What I like the most about this book, is that all three friends crack me up a lot. Gary Paulsen brings humor and disaster all in one book. Don't miss this funny ride with mastermind Henry, researcher Riley, and dreadful Reed !

Read More

Amazon: The Deadliest Rain Forest On Earth

The Amazon rain forest in South America is the largest rain forest on Earth. It covers 2.124 million sq miles (5.5 million km²). This rain forest contains the Amazon river, exotic animals, and majestic views. But what you don't know that Amazon rain forest has some of the world's most dangerous animals on the planet.

Let's get to know more about these wild beasts of the jungle, if you dare.....

   

BULL SHARK : This shark have the ability to live in saltwater 

areas and freshwater areas. They live in the Amazon River.These sharks will attack humans who are swimming in the river but the animal mistakes them for prey or is just curious. These sharks can grow up to 7 - 11.5 feet (2.1 to 3.4 meters) and weigh up to 200 - 500 pounds ( 90 - 230 kilograms ). These creatures also live in the Mississippi River.

ELECTRIC EEL : The electric eel can discharge electricity by using cells called electrocytes which can release up to 600 volts. Even though this animal looks similar to an eel it is mostly related to carp and catfish. These animals are nearly blind so they create 10 volt charges that helps them notice their surroundings. Electric eels can grow up to 6 to 8 ft (1.8 to 2.5 m) and weigh up to 44 pounds(20 kilograms). 

FRESHWATER STINGRAY : It is very surprising to see a stingray in the Amazon River. Like other stingrays, it has a poisonous tail that can cause pain and even death. They can also can camouflage with the riverbed. 

ARMY ANTS : These ants very destructive. They don't stay in one mound, they move continuously and set up temporary homes. An single ant bite is equivalent to a wasp bite. Their bites can send a full grown man into shock. They can take on any animal bigger than itself. 

These are only few of the dangerous animals you will encounter in Amazon rain forest. If you see any of these animals, it's always wise to move slowly away from them before it’s too late!

Read More

Denali : Alaska's Frontier

Denali National Park is a place full with exotic nature, rare views, and is home to North America's tallest mountain, Mt. McKinley, or as the natives call it, Denali which means "high one". Denali National Park is very large. In fact, the park itself is bigger than the state Massachusetts! This park is divided into three sections. They are the taiga, tundra and alpines. 

Denali is well known for its diversity of wildlife. Most of the 

exotic animals thrive in the lowest region- The Taiga. You can meet moose, beavers, lynx, wood-frog, opus beetle here. The wood-frog is the only amphibian found in the park. The tundra is the next. Trees cannot grow in this region because part of the soil is frozen and turns into permafrost. so only the plants with short roots can take hold in thin layer of soil. The wildlife here includes arctic ground squirrels, caribou, collared pika. Tundra is also sanctuary for dall sheep, only white sheep found in the world. That's the reason, Denali is the national park. The tundra predators are gray wolves and grizzly bears!

The alpines covers half of the park , is at highest altitude and extremely dry. In Denali, crevasses can be a hundred feet deep and wrong step can be last. Only one creature lives here, ice worm. They are adopted to live in cold temperature,if temperature rises above 40F, Ice worms starts to melt ! The higher up in the alpines, temperatures drops even further. The only one creature can withstand this- the humans. 

Almost 1,100 people try to scale Mt. McKinley every year. Though, only half make it to the top !

The outer limit of Denali is the highlight of all. Well above the wilderness and in to the thermosphere an aurora borealis occurs. The Denali is the perfect spot to view this dazzling display of light.

  

In the lower level of the Denali Visitor Center is a place where you can express what Denali means to you. Here is my most favorite thought shared by past visitors,

"Denali means new adventures, experiences, sensations, sights and knowledge. My job as I leave this beauty is to let it change me and my treatment of the world."  

And that's what true Denali is... !

Read More

Australia's Deadly Wildlife

  Australia is the most popular destination nowadays. Even though, for travelers it's paradise getaway , but it's also home to some of the most venomous and deadly animals of the planet. These creatures can kill you in mere seconds.

Let's take a look of Australia's deadly wildlife : 

 

BOX JELLYFISH : Box jellies aka sea wasps live primarily in the coastal region of Northern Australia. The smack is nearly 

invisible and their venom is considered to be among the most deadly in the world, containing toxins that attack the heart, nervous system, and skin cells. 

SYDNEY FUNNEL WEB SPIDER : You can describe it as most deadliest spider in the world. It produces highly toxic venom in large amount and has large dagger like fangs to inject. It has a bite strong enough to break through a human toe nail. 

SALTWATER CROCODILE : It is the world's largest reptile. They are camouflage attack predators , So can be extremely dangerous. An average size saltwater crocodile has a bite force of 5,000 pounds. 

BLUE RINGED OCTOPUS : It's a pretty creature to look at, but don't attempt to touch one. Despite its small size, it is considered to be one of the world’s deadliest venomous animals .The toxin in the southern blue-ringed octopus’s venom is 1,000 times more powerful than cyanide.

These are only a few of the many deadliest animals you encounter in Australia. If you already have other creatures on your list, feel free to share!

    

Read More

How To Train Your Dragon

Everybody knows about the popular movie that DreamWorks made, How To Train Your Dragon. But did you know it was based on a popular book series?  The How To Train Your Dragon series was written by Cressida Cowell. However, the story for the books is a little more interesting.  

Though there is a big difference in the plot of books, there is no war between humans and dragons. Instead, they are friends and allies.

When Hiccup the heir to the Viking tribe catches his first dragon, it's a disappointment. The dragon is very tiny and it is a common dragon. Since the creature has no teeth, Hiccup calls it Toothless. Toothless is extremely hard to train. So Hiccup tries various methods to train his dragon. Like for example, for everything fish Toothless catches Hiccup will tell him a joke because dragons like jokes a lot. Even though Toothless is stubborn, he has saved Hiccup's life multiple times. Hiccup and Toothless have gone many adventures that include villains, new dragons, and his friends helping him on the way. So far my favorite adventure is when Hiccup goes to find Toothless from the evil Romans. His dragon got caught when his ship crashed into a large Roman ship. Along the way Hiccup gets a new friend. 

To find about his adventures read the How To Train Your Dragon series!

Read More

It's Kodu Time!

I am always looking forward to playing video games with my friends. My all time favorite video games are Super Mario Bros., Wii Sports Resort, Poke' Park 2: Wonders Beyond, and Mario Kart. Have you ever wondered what it's like to design your own video game? If so, here is some good news. : Kodu is a game designing software created by Microsoft. Once your game is finished you can publish your game on Kodu's website.  

What makes Kodu different from most game designing software? 

The first thing is the price. Its free! The second is it’s easy to understand. It's so easy that your grandma can use it!  It's easy because everything you do is visual. At the same time it's fun also as you can make the rules of your game, create background, scoring system, characters, and much more.

Wait... there is more. you can  share your game with Kodu Game Lab with absolutely anyone, like your family, friends, even with people on the other side of the world. In addition to this, you can use Kodu with both a keyboard and Xbox 360 controller.

Here I'm going to direct you to Kodu : Welcome to Kodu       

Overall I like this game designing software. If you already have created your game, feel free to share with me.

Happy Game Designing! Can't wait to find out more brilliant ideas from you.

Read More

From Expedition: Everest to Mission: SPACE

You can get info about Disney World from so many sources. But the only way to learn about this unique destination is to experience it. Disney World takes you on a fabulous journey of fantasy, thrills, and beyond our Earth. Makes everyone from child to adult gleeful. There are never ending activities that keep you busy and you are never get tired of it. Here are my favorite things to do at Disney World.

Expedition: Everest

This fast ride involves you going through Mt. Everest, the tallest mountain in the world. When you go to a section of a piece of track that's completely ripped off, your cart goes backwards faster, than it was going forward! Then you get plunged into darkness and you meet up with the legendary beast of the Himalayas, the Yeti. This ride is slightly scary but still its worth it to ride it. 

Kilimanjaro Safaris

This safari is the same, if you were on a real one in Africa. On the safari you get to meet up with some animals such as crocodiles, elephants, giraffes, etc. You even get to meet up with lions. Don't worry, the lions won't attack you! 

Maharajah Jungle Trek

In this trek you get to meet up with some animals in Asia. There are fruit bats, birds, Komodo dragons, and tigers. The tigers, really handsome animal !!

DINOSAUR

Take a journey 65 million years again the time of the dinosaurs.You get to encounter dinosaurs, and one mad carnivorous dinosaur! This ride is slightly scary.

Rock 'n' Roller Coaster  

This ride is the fastest ride in Disney World. There are loops, turns, and drops. This is the most thrilling ride, in my opinion.

Fantasmic

This show is a must see. The show is the story of Mickey defeating the evil monster that all the villains from the Disney movies created. But make sure you avoid the wet zone in the cold winter nights. If you have to sit in the wet zone bring a poncho or a rain jacket.

   

Twilight Zone Tower of Terror

This tumultuous ride is different than any other ride I experienced. Instead of a normal track, you drop several stories so fast, that you can't feel your seat!

Toy Story Midway Mania !

On this ride, you need to have quick reflexes. If you are a toy story fan, you will giddy over this game with Woody. 

Big Thunder Mountain Railroad

This coaster takes you back to the age of cowboys and Indians! There are deeps, dives and curves that blitz you.

Splash Mountain

As name indicates, you can guess, this is wettest ride. At first it moves slow and easy going and you think it's gonna be kiddy ride but wait, it plunges 5 stories into river soaking you wet.

Space Mountain

This is indoor roller coaster that takes you beyond the earth. It zooms you through space. Only the drawback- seats are uncomfortable !

Test Track

What I like about this ride is that you get to make your own car. Then you get test the car on several things. But the best part is saved for last, when you whats its top speed!

Mission: SPACE

Become the first people to land on Mars! This ride is virtual. There are two teams. There is Green Team where there are no special effect, or the Orange Team which does have special effects. I like the Orange Team better because you actually can feel that your in space!

Read More

Dancing With The Sharks

My last visit to NASA turned into a pleasant surprise. I would have never imagined that I will watch "a shark show" at the space center.  In Seaworld they don't have any shark shows. I was so mesmerized by the show so I couldn't resist the urge to recommend this show to you.

In this show there were real life sharks! The sharks were nurse sharks and they only attack people when they are threatened. The co-host of the show explained that the main host will be diving in with the sharks. He informed us that the diver (the host) has encountered some problems with sharks.

For example one time the diver got bitten in the head once but it wasn't that bad because these animals have small teeth. But the diver still dives because the sharks were rescue sharks and the government doesn't allow them to be released into the wild so the sharks had to rotate between zoos and rescue foundations. When the diver dived in the tank with sharks, I was tense because I thought the he was going to get ambushed by a shark! But luckily he didn't. Then he did something hilarious. He grabbed a nearby shark and pretended to dance with it!. He also ride on the sharks, pretend to play music on(shark as) guitar etc.

When he came out he got a shark tooth. He was feeling generous that day, so he said that he would give everyone a shark tooth. I really believed what he said but it was a trick! He said that you have to get the teeth yourself and for that you have to enter in the shark tank. The show was really awesome and remember, the next time you visit NASA make sure to see the shark show first!

You can get more info about this show HERE.

  

There are also other absolute must see attractions at NASA , about those I'll write sometime soon. So keep reading...

Read More

The Worst Case Scenario: Deadly Seas, You Decide How To Survive!

The Worst Case Scenario series gives the reader a different reading experience, instead of reading the book from beginning to end, there are choices in the book which have multiple options and you must choose the right one or you might go to the wrong ending.

In the Deadly Seas book by David Borgenicht and Alexander Lurie with Mike Perham, sailing consultant, you are the youngest group to sail across the whole world! You encounter real sailing problems, such as health issues, wildlife, and storms. There are total 33 endings those leads you to wrong path,but there is only one ending to ultimate success! This book was really confusing ( making the right choices) for me. So many times I went to the wrong ending, but this made me more ambitious to find out the successful ending. I was so desperate to see "Congratulations! You have achieved... THE ULTIMATE SUCCESS."

and I finally did it !!! It was totally an adventurous journey.

There are other books in the series like Amazon, Everest, and Mars. I will write about these books soon.

Read More

Websites I Really Like

Everybody has different hobbies. Now a days there are so many options to select from. I like to play games on my laptop. So I'm writing this post about my favorite websites. I will write more in my next post.

Pottermore

Since the Harry Potter books and movies have ended, J. K. Rowling decided to create Pottermore, a website that allows you to travel through the books. Each book contains scenes from the chapters and allow you to collect items. You can even go to Diagon Alley to buy supplies for your journey,you get chosen into  the 4 houses ( Gryffindor, Slytherin, Hufflepuff, and Ravenclaw) and you get your own wand. Go to Pottermore.com to get started!

Chess.com 

Chess.com is a website that allows you to play chess against the computer for free or you can play someone across the Internet. There are tournaments you can enter, learn, watch videos and solve puzzles. There are apps for this website on Chrome Web Store, iPhone, and Android devices.

Coolifiedgames 

This is my favorite website for playing games. There are different game categories and are quite easy to understand and play.

Read More

My Videos

These are some videos I created. Hope you will find them interesting and entertaining!!! 

My first video is about unsolved mysteries I thought of. These are scientific mysteries.

TOP 4 MYSTERIES

The second video is about my favorite real life pranks!!!  I read all these pranks in Prank star by Tim Bugbird and I like these pranks so much I couldn't resist myself to share with you all.

TOP 10 REAL LIFE PRANKS 

  

So N'joy these videos and

comments are welcome.

Read More

Some More Books...

Today, I just want to give book recommendations..

Harry Potter books 

 

By J. K. Rowling

11 year-old Harry Potter thinks his life is miserable with  his Aunt Petunia, Uncle Vernon, and their son, Dudley. But A strange letter from Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry changes his life. He is a wizard!  In these series, Harry experiences 7 years at Hogwarts with his friends, enemies, and the most powerful evil wizard, Lord Voldemort. Harry learns that he must defeat Voldemort, before he causes mass destruction. Will he be able to do it? Read the Harry Potter books to find out...

Killer Species: Menace From The Deep           

By Michael P. Spradlin 

Emmet Doyle has arrived in Florida City. His dad and him had to move here because  his dad has some work to do in the Everglades. However something weird occurs in the swamp. An unknown creature has been found dead, and it doesn't live here. Someone created it. But who did it and why? Find out in Menace From The Deep.

Read More