Kidnapped: The Adventures of David Balfour

This is only the second book that I have read so far in a long time, the first being George’s Cosmic Treasure Hunt, which should be explained and summarized in the previous review.

This book is called Kidnapped: The Adventures of David Balfour by Robert Louis Stevenson, also the author of Treasure Island and Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. It revolves around an 18th century young man named David Balfour, who lost his inheritance, got kidnapped, and had to evade enemies in the Scottish Highlands.

The story begins during the morning of a day in early June, 1751, when he left the home of his deceased father. Mr. Campbell, the minister of Essendean, was waiting for him near the gate. He then guided him to the ford to lead him on his journey. Mr. Campbell told him that when his father was beginning to sicken, he got a letter telling him to give the letter to David, then tell him to go to the House of Shaws, where David‘s father was born. Mr. Campbell gave him another letter addressed to “Mr. Ebenezer Balfour, Esquire, of Shaws”. When David asked Mr. Campbell where to go, he suggested walking to Cramond, the nearest city to the House. He gave him some money and three gifts, one round, one square and flat, and the other cubical. Mr. Campbell soon left him where he would start his journey alone, and David opened his gifts. The round one was a shilling piece, the square and flat was a piece of paper that contained instructions on making remedies, and the cubical one was a Bible.

He left off, departing for the House of Shaws. On the way, he asked people about the House of Shaws and directions to it. He continued with his journey until he met and asked a lady about it, and she replied with what she said was the twelve hundred and nineteenth time that she cursed the House. Continuing on his way, David spotted the House of Shaws and cautiously knocked on the door. The noises that he heard from inside the house had stopped. Moments later, he knocked even more loudly and called for Mr. Balfour. Finally, someone answered from a window, and David stated he had a letter to deliver to Mr. Ebenezer Balfour of Shaws. The man let him in. After letting him read the letter and having dinner, Ebenezer directed him to his room, but with no lights, as he did not like light. The room and bed was musty and damp, but David found a plaid and slept on the floor.

The next day, he went to the well and washed his face, then to the kitchen, where he ate breakfast and told Ebenezer about the lady’s message. Ebenezer replied that she has cursed the House every day since she was released from it. Then Ebenezer told him that he would be locked out since he couldn’t leave him in the house alone. After some conversation and inquiries, he led him to a stairwell five stories high - without a light, as always - and told him to follow the wall to the top and get a chest filled with papers there. After climbing the stairs to the top, he found a cupboard filled with papers and medicine. He found three chests, one filled with money, another filled with moneybags, and the third filled with many things. David found Ebenezer in a weakened state, and Ebenezer directed him to fetch a blue vial from the cupboard. Ebenezer drank it and went to bed.

The next morning, Ebenezer and David were having a conversation on how they mistook each other’s behavior for their opposites, but they were interrupted by a knock on the door. It was a young boy who was hungry and needed to deliver a letter from Heasyoasy (a mispronunciation of the captain‘s name) to Mr. Belflower. They let him in as he explained that they would need to walk over with him to the Covenant, a ship departing for overseas that day. The boy later said his name was Ransome, and that the captain of the ship, Hoseason, was someone who would “crack on all sail into the day of judgment”. Mr. Shuan navigated the brig, and wounded Ransome. He showed this wound to David. The three boarded the ship and talked to a landlord there. Later, David was wondering what they would see in the Carolinas, where they were heading. That’s when he saw his uncle laying on the floor. David tried to help him, but he was grabbed from behind!

He woke up to find himself in a warm, moist and dark brig with his hands and feet bound together by what seemed to be ropes of fire. He felt miserable as days passed without food or water. But one day, he was awoken by a lantern shining in his face, and someone named Mr. Riach called up Captain Hoseason to cut his bounds. They led him to the dining room, where he ate and rejuvenated his spirits. He later found out that they were repeatedly being blown off course, and were only between the Orkney and Shetland Islands.

Mr. Shuan, Mr. Riach, and Hoseason were talking in the dining room when Hoseason asked David to go in to the roundhouse and get weapons (pistols and swords) from there. In the roundhouse, David met a Jacobite (one who opposed King George) named Stewart, but preferred to be called Alan Breck. He talked about how he opposed the ship’s crew, as they supported King George, while he did not. He also talked about how the ship’s crew killed Ransome, the boy who David and Ebezener followed to the ship. He gave David a pistol as he plotted to kill some of Hoseason’s crew. Soon after, a few crew members busted through the roundhouse door, and some more through the watchtower. David and Alan worked together and killed the six crew members that attacked three apiece, in an event appropriately titled “The Siege of the Roundhouse”.

A few days after the roundhouse incident and killings, high winds tormented the ship’s course. They rounded the top of Scotland and kept within reach of the Scottish coast when a storm blew David overboard and sent the Covenant spiraling down into the deep, dark sea. Alan managed to survive, though it is not mentioned how, and we don’t hear about him until David reaches mainland Scotland.

Meanwhile, David tried to reach land, but wandered for an hour until he reached a small islet named Earraid. There were no animals or any material for shelter. Instead, he ate raw shellfish and oysters that occasionally washed up on the shore. He slept without any blankets or material to cover his body, apart from his clothes. He saw a passing ship but unfortunately, it did not come to his rescue. He was starting to get tired when he saw another ship, but this time, it turned in his direction and saved him. Onboard he met a few more people, including a noble and his wife. They sailed to the bigger isle of Mull. David had to get to Torosay, a city in the northeastern part of the island that had access to the Scottish mainland. He was assisted by Mr. Rankeillor, one of the people on board the ship. When they got to Torosay, David met up with Alan and continued the journey.

On the mainland, they heard about some prisoners held in Fort William, which was not far from where they just arrived. However, David and Alan had more important things to do. David and Alan were heading to Queensferry, where Alan would leave Scotland for unknown reasons (until later in the story). Their trek across the Scottish Highlands remained largely uneventful until they encountered a scuffle (nope, that word is too weak to describe the situation) between two opposing clans. One of the people involved in the fight died from the stab of a sword, but even though Alan did not commit the slaying, he was still blamed for it and became a fugitive.

The two were becoming extremely tired and weak, so they found a place to stay (but it wasn’t that easy back then as it is now), and though the people who ran the inn were of Alan’s opposing clan, he was admitted anyway. The two had courteous service and their own maids and entertainers. They stayed until they were feeling better, which took about one month. The rest of the trip was also uneventful, but when they arrived in Queensferry, someone approached them, saying that Ebenezer was offering the House of Shaws (from earlier) to him. He eventually accepted the offer, and also let Ebenezer stay.

The two then walked to Queensferry where David and Alan went separate ways. Each of them said their final words before parting, and David watched Alan sail into the sea.

George's Cosmic Treasure Hunt

I haven't read a book that I liked in a long time, but as you may know, I just turned 12 a few days ago. My father borrowed a new book from the library, called George's Cosmic Treasure Hunt. It is about a boy named George whose friend's father, Eric, is a genius on the universe and its wonders. He even built a supercomputer (Cosmos), but it ended up crashing by mistake. When George's friend, Annie, manages to boot up Cosmos, she found a message involving a recently landed Mars space probe. George, Annie, and Emmett, a smart but annoying boy, manage to find other clues at different locations in the universe, all with the same ending: Earth would be destroyed if the clues were not followed.

The story starts out in the Atlantis space shuttle where George, the main protagonist, is the commander of the shuttle. He gets nervous during the final moments before the shuttle finally takes off. He thinks of his family and friends he will be leaving. After the shuttle takes off, he sees that it is going into space upside-down and panics, but his pilot reassures him that they are safe. The shuttle finally emerges into space, and a very bright light is up ahead... but it turns out to be Annie Bellis, his best friend, shining a flashlight at his face. It was all a dream!

Next, George is having quite a difficult time choosing a costume to wear to a space-themed party hosted by Eric, Annie's father and a space genius who works at the Global Space Agency. In the end, George chooses a costume that resembled what appeared to be a shadow on Mars, but was actually an illusion formed by a rocky mass.

At the party, George tried to figure out what all the other costumes were supposed to be, but failed. He sees Annie and tries to guess what her costume was, guessing that it was a black hole, but Annie says her costume was dark matter. Soon, Eric arrives as what he says as "the only intelligent life-form in the universe." George tells him not to say that, or some of the scientists would get mad at him. However, Eric dismisses this, saying that this "only intelligent life-form" is a human being. He then asks his friends to explain their costumes for George, as well as to write down their favorite parts of working in the field of science.

After the party was over, Eric and his family announced that they would be moving to Florida (as they were currently living in England). He gave George a copy of The User's Guide to the Universe, which he compiled from various scientists' essays and explanations. The following day, George and Annie waved their final goodbyes before Annie left for America.

Time passed, and Annie invited George to come and visit America. Not wanting his parents to know, he e-mailed his grandmother about the trip and agreed to send her to America. When "Gran", as she was called, came the next day, George's parents objected, saying it was too expensive, but Gran immediately says she has lots of money stored under the floorboards of her house. So while George, accompanied by Gran, would be going to Florida to visit his friends, his parents would be going on an eco-tour to the Pacific Islands, which are being threatened due to rising sea levels.

Upon George's arrival in Florida, Annie ducked under the rail and hugged him. She stated that there is an emergency, but also warned George not to tell anyone. George met Emmett, a short but intelligent young boy who always seemed to get on Annie's nerves ever since his parents left him with Annie's family.

Once everyone got to Annie's house, she directed George to climb the tree in her front yard, so that she could tell him a secret. It turns out she was able to reboot Cosmos, a supercomputer that had stopped working a couple of years ago, and there was a message that she had suspected had come from aliens. Upon hearing this, Emmett, who was listening from the base of the tree, immediately objected that there were aliens in the universe due to the lack of evidence. After Emmett stopped talking, Annie explained that a while ago, her family had watched a Mars probe go through some rough moments during landing, and that it was not acting properly.

Late at night, Annie and George went downstairs and onto the veranda, where Annie showed George the message. It appeared to mean that someone had to get to the Mars rover before it was too late. If they didn't arrive in time, Earth would be destroyed. After another of Annie's stories about how she found out about the "message", Eric sent the two back to bed.

The next day, George received a phone call that his parents arrived at Tuvalu, one of many stops during their eco-mission in the Pacific Islands. After this, George and Annie were in the bathroom discussing the picture and found out what it all means. Susan, Annie's mom, decided that they needed a quiet day at home rather than showing George around the town. After all, the next day would be the highlight of George's entire trip.

The group was going to see a space shuttle launch, which was a big help for Annie, as she, along with George, was going to Mars with the help of Cosmos, the supercomputer mentioned earlier that could also send people to any location in the universe. This is how George and Annie would go out into space on their "treasure hunt". However, they needed to find a place where they would not be seen. During the launch, they quietly crept to the Clean Room, which is kept at extremely high cleanliness, with less microbes and other particles in the air than normal air does. This is where astronauts go so that they would be germ-free before going into space because of the possibility that the germs would be mistaken for new life forms. George and Annie, along with Emmett, were cleaned upon entry on an assembly-line-like contraption. After the cleaning process was finished, they were sent into a completely white room. Emmett brought Cosmos, their gateway to the universe, with him, and tried to boot it up. After a long effort to boot up Cosmos, Annie and George stepped through the portal to Mars. The two had radio connections with Emmett, in case something goes wrong.

George and Annie arrived at Mars, carefully stepping on the ground and avoiding detection by the Mars probe. This was to make sure that the scientists wouldn't mistake their footprints for signs of new life-forms. They carefully examined the Mars probe and found a message similar to the one Annie found out about. This time, it showed a circle with a ring around it (Saturn) and six moons. They quickly decided that the moon they had to go to was Titan, Saturn's largest moon. They radioed to Emmett to hurry up, since a huge dust storm was approaching! A few moments later, they saw the portal to Titan.

They found themselves on a barren wasteland with a stream of a liquid substance flowing by. That liquid substance was water mixed with ammonia. The ammonia makes it freeze at -148 degrees Fahrenheit, as well as make it smell bad, but since the two were in space suits, that was less of a concern.

On the other end of the radio, Emmett was in for a surprise. Eric had come into the clean room and asked Emmett why he was here. He explained the entire situation: the messages, Cosmos, etc. He also told him that George and Annie were on Titan, finding the next clue.

Meanwhile, on Titan, George and Annie had just found a probe floating in the water-ammonia river, with the word HUYGENS and the next clue. At first, Annie thought it was a bomb, but George told her that Huygens was an exploration probe sent by the main Cassini probe in 2004. On another part of it, there was a message. This time, they had to go to a planet in what appeared to be a binary -- or two-star -- system. Eric tried to get Cosmos to work, but it didn't for a while, and methane rain was falling on Titan, which can deplete space suits. Fortunately, Eric was able to get the portal to open to the Alpha Centauri star system. All this time, however, George's father had gone missing in their eco-mission in the Pacific.

George and Annie found themselves on a planet where there were TWO "suns", not one, as Annie soon pointed out: Alpha A and Alpha B. Alpha A was setting and Alpha B was rising. The two were getting tired when Emmett radioed them, saying that Eric was on his way there. He managed to get there safe and then sending them to 55 Cancri, another star system very far away. They climbed up a rocky outcrop and saw a mysterious shadow. Then a voice went through all their microphones: "Hello, Eric, we meet again..."

It turned out to be Dr. Graham Reeper, Eric's friend-turned-enemy because of an incident with the first ever Cosmos. It took up almost an entire room! Graham was secretly planning to view the Big Bang with Cosmos, but Eric came and prevented him from doing it, since it was so dangerous and would endanger many lives due to the massive energy, heat, and pressure during the situation. Instead, the portal opened to the Sun, burning Graham's hands, before Eric told Cosmos to close the portal. This got Graham suspended from the Global Space Agency and ever since, he was planning to get revenge on the human race by using a small liquid vial, but the two kids headbutted him before he could. Eventually, he and Eric apologized to each other on what they did to each other, and promised Graham he could come back to the field of science again. Cosmos opened the portal back to Earth, and everyone returned.

Later, Emmett's parents came to pick him up, and George asked Eric if his family could go back to England with them, and he agreed. Annie and George rejoiced and celebrated that they would be together again.

Journey to the Center of the Earth 3-D (Spoiler Warning!)

I watched this spectacular movie a day after its debut on the big screen. We also watched it in 3-D, which added to the suspense. There is also a book with the same name, which was the backbone of the plot. They even used the book in the movie!

Here is the movie's plot. =D

At the beginning of the movie, a man named Max Anderson was being chased by a Tyrannosaurus Rex and then stopped at a fissure in the ground that was filled with magma! He made a desperate jump to the other side of the fissure, but he didn't make it across and succumbed to the scalding magma.

In the present, Trevor Anderson's lab is about to be closed down for storage. He later went home but realized that his nephew was coming that day, so he hid his mess in his house, but there was still some clutter in the dining room.

Anyway, his nephew, Sean, was staying for a week at his house. There, Trevor showed Sean some antiques to him including a yo-yo. Trevor also took him to the lab, where Sean discovered an extra dot (indicating seismic activity) in addition to the other three dots on the screen.

The dot was in Iceland and had the same exact features as in July 1997 when Max went missing. He had enough money to buy a flight to Iceland with his spare change! They found a mountain guide named Hannah and headed for a mountain.

At the top, he tried grabbing a sensor out of the ground, but lightning was then striking close to him and as he dove inside a chamber, a lightning bolt struck some rocks and trapped the three inside!

They found two tunnels and took the one on the right, only to find themselves at a steep wall! They used ropes to get to the bottom and then found an abandoned mine shaft after some exploring. They rode on one of the carts, which led to a roller-coaster ride inside the cave!

When they reached a dead end, they went into a well-hidden tunnel and discovered that the room was filled with gemstones and minerals such as feldspar, rubies, emeralds, and--last but not least--diamonds! Unfortunately, the floor was made out of muscovite, a fragile material. The muscovite cracked like very thin ice and they fell a long distance into a pool of water.

When they finally arrived at the shore, they discovered that on the ceiling, there were many fluorescent blue birds there, making such a magnificent sight! One of the birds later served as Sean's guide.

Afterward, they found themselves in a scenic jungle and ocean. They found a message from Max stating his destination and where to go to find it. They looked at the temperature gauge and found out that the temperature was rising fast, so they hurriedly built a raft to cross the sea.

Not long after they set sail, a storm began brewing. Later, they were attacked by piranha-like fish, but they all used something to keep them away. Later during the journey on the water, Sean tried to hold on to the mast during high winds but couldn't and was carried by the wind, and in the end, Sean found himself in a sandy area.

Trevor and Hannah were walking in a forest-like area, and suddenly, giant Venus flytraps were attacking them. Hannah was getting choked by the flytraps' vines, but Trevor used his physical strength and pulled a flytrap out of the ground, causing many others to go limp.

Then, the duo arrived at the geyser that was supposed to take them up to the surface, but suddenly, Trevor decided to go look for Sean because he doesn’t want to leave him lost inside.

Meanwhile, Sean was hopping across a path of floating stones (the floating was caused by a magnetic field). After a ton of desperation and holding on when one of the stones flipped over twice, he finally made it across, but then he found himself being chased by a T-rex that was right above him!

Despite his desperation and fright, he outran the T-rex into a small den, and on the other side of the den, Trevor smashed an opening in the wall so Sean could get to the other side and away from danger.

But the T-rex burst through the wall like it was nothing! Trevor, however, realized that the floor was made of muscovite, so he devised a plan to lure the ferocious dinosaur onto the muscovite floor. Later, the T-rex fell through!

Sean and Trevor made it safely and found Hannah, who was sailing in a dinosaur jaw bone as a sailboat! They rode a very bumpy ride to get to the geyser, but missed it when their ride was out of control and landed in a fissure containing magma!

Their mode of transportation got stuck between two walls, however. Trevor found out that the wall was made out of magnesium, which breaks when exposed to fire and then tried three times to break the wall with flares. On the third try, he burst the wall which caused the dinosaur jawbone they were traveling in to be propelled upwards.

They were going up fast due to the magma’s force and when they reached the surface, they found out that they came out of Mt. Vesuvius in Italy, which last erupted in A.D. 79!

After a rapid downhill ride, they found an Italian farmer, and with Sean's diamond samples, they were able pay for the damage caused to his vineyards, as well as get enough money to get to Canada, where Sean was supposed to meet his mother. They later went home and showed his mom the fluorescent bird he kept.

The 3-D was able to add to the suspense of the movie and my favorite pre-movie commercial for MovieTickets.com! =D

The Prince and the Pauper

This story is another adventure-filled book by Mark Twain (Samuel Clemens) that takes place in London. Its title is "The Prince and the Pauper".

Here is the summary of the story:

One day, a child named Tom was born into a poor family and became a pauper. On the same day, another child, Edward, was born into a rich family and became the Prince of Wales. During Tom's childhood, he read books about princes.

Many years later, he escaped from his family and ran off. He ended up at the prince's castle only to be treated badly by the guards. However, the prince allowed him to go in. The prince guided him to his room. He then ordered Tom to stay there while he went out of the castle.

Unfortunately, Tom's biological father, John, grabbed the prince. That created a mob trying to free him from John's hold. John hit one of the men trying to free Edward with a club. He later got word that he killed the man and now his family was in danger.

John’s family ran as fast as they can away from their home. Meanwhile, Tom was getting worried about Edward but did not leave the castle. He was mistaken as the Prince of Wales and was treated a lot better than in his former ghetto home.

However, they found out that he could not speak the languages that the real prince could speak. He was later assigned to take lessons. During his lessons, he also made declarations and new laws.

Days later, King Henry VIII died, so now Tom was promoted from prince to king! He made more declarations as the King of England. During the king's River Parade, however, the real king, Edward, declared that he was going to get his throne back.

There, Edward also made a friend with Miles Hendon. He soon became Edward's protector wherever he went. They were sleeping in a house when they found out that Edward had gone missing. When he went outside, one of his servants told him that a man came by who said that Miles sent him to get the boy and bring him back to Miles, which, of course, was a lie told by the man.

The next morning, Tom woke up and Lord Hertford came to him. He was then dressed by his servants. He was then led to the throne room, where Tom was going to conduct a speech. One subject was about the former king's debts. He soon found out that being a king wasn't what he was expecting.

A boy was then sent into the throne room. He was Tom's whipping boy, Humphrey Marlow. Whenever Tom fails a test, Humphrey gets whipped. Tom thought that was unfair and declared that Humphrey should not get whipped ever again.

Tom was scheduled to dine out in public on his fourth day of being a king to see if he was ready to rule the kingdom. When he looked out the window, he saw an angry mob outside. One of Tom's pages told him that the mob was following a man that was about to be executed. He then ordered that man to be sent to the castle.

When the criminal arrived, he remembered that the man saved his friend, Giles, from drowning. That criminal had been accused for poisoning. After listening to the story, Tom declared that there wasn't enough evidence to find out if the criminal really poisoned someone.

At Tom's dinner,

Gulliver's Travels

 

This book that I have read is also a great adventure book. It was written by Jonathan Swift, born in Ireland in 1667.

Here is the summary:

Lemuel Gulliver's father left his son when he was a kid, but over the years Gulliver became more independent and soon he was on a ship headed for the East Indies when a powerful storm blew the Antelope (the ship) off course.

Gulliver was all alone in the sea when he spotted a beach. A crowd of tiny people there shot him with a lot of arrows at his hand, which forced him to surrender. He was then taken to the capital of Lilliput (the island). There he met with the emperor and empress of Lilliput. Many of the residents there were astounded by his size (they were only 6 inches tall). The emperor ordered a feast for Gulliver and ordered people to make a bed and a blanket for him.

Days later, Gulliver learned the Lilliputians' language and asked for freedom. He was then checked for weapons before he could leave. The emperor held a performance with rope dancers, jugglers, acrobats and more. Gulliver wanted to do an act of his own.

He gathered the Lilliputian army and ordered a mock battle. For the grand finale, he ordered the soldiers to march between his legs. The ministers wrote a document stating the terms of his freedom. After gaining his freedom, he visited the palace and took a look inside all the windows, being guided by the empress.

Two weeks later, the secretary of a secret agency asked Gulliver to destroy the Blefuscan fleet because of a conflict that soon turned into a war. The cause of the war between Lilliput and Blefuscu was the way how to break an egg, smaller side or larger side. To them, it was a serious matter.

He crossed the 800-yard sea to Blefuscu to take the enemy fleet by grabbing ropes attached to the ship. At the sight of Gulliver, dubbed "Man Mountain", they were in shock. He cut the anchor ropes holding the ships in place and carried the enemy fleet back to Lilliput.

However, Gulliver was then charged with treason for refusing to conquer Blefuscu. Afterwards, some people in the council began to plot against him. Shortly after, the empress's apartment was on fire, and during a desperate attempt to put out the fire, he sprayed water out of his mouth, putting out the fire.

However, he did not know that spitting on palace grounds was against the law. For the misdeeds he committed, they planned to put his eyes out with arrows. Gulliver later escaped to Blefuscu and rode home after that, but another storm caught the ship near Madagascar.

He ended up in a place where he was the small person and the rest were giants. That land was called Brobdingnag. He later lived with a family who had a little girl named Glumdalclitch, and she quickly became Gulliver's best friend.

The farmer then sold him to the highest bidder. The high bidder was the queen. The farmer then granted permission to Glumdalclitch to stay with Gulliver.

A dwarf who wanted to get revenge on Gulliver (for making fun of his height) gathered the biggest flies ad sent them out against Gulliver, but they were no match against his skills as a swordsman.

On another account, a swarm of wasps entered his room through the window. Four of them were killed, but the rest escaped. He soon made one of the stingers into a trophy.

The queen made a boat and a river for Gulliver to sail in. He later found a ship to take him home, but he ended up in a place called Laputa, which was floating in the sky. There was a kingdom below named Balnibarbi. A resident named Munodi led him across the kingdom, exploring every area of the kingdom. He then went back home on another ship.

The Adventures of Robin Hood

I haven't read in a long while, but I felt that I should read another book. This time, it was a wonderful adventure that spans many years. It is called The Adventures of Robin Hood, by Howard Pyle, a Delawarean.

Here is a summary of the story:

In a peaceful English community lived a famous outlaw named Robin Hood, whose reputation was to rob the rich and donate to the poor. Over the years, he has collected more members in his band of over 140 men!

He became an outlaw at 18 years, when he argued with a group of foresters and shot the leader of a herd of deer with a bow and arrow. Afterward, he also shot one of the foresters! Unfortunately, that forester was a relative of King Henry II, who was ruling England at that time. The Sheriff of Nottingham put up a big reward for his capture.

Later, when his band was a little over 100 men, he got in an argument with a wealthy stranger. They challenged each other to a fight, and after a whole load of fighting, Robin won. He then won in an archery contest, so the stranger, named John Little (renamed Little John), joined Robin and his band of 100 men.

A messenger spread the word about Robin Hood across Nottingham, going as far as the Blue Boar Inn, where he joined a group consisting of friars, foresters, and a tinker. The tinker met Robin Hood twice, and on the second time, they fought against each other. Robin won against him and the tinker joined him, just like Little John did.

The Sheriff of Nottingham wanted Robin Hood to be caught, but he could not place a warrant on him. He met with King Henry II, and they devised a plan to hold an archery contest to entice and capture Robin Hood. One of Robin's men, however, told him that the contest was a trap. He still entered the contest, but in disguise. The rest of the men were also in disguise.

During the elimination round of the archery contest, the sheriff was disappointed because he could not find Robin among the archers competing. As expected, he got the best shot and won first prize (a golden arrow) under the clever pseudonym Jock o' Teviotdale. Later that day, the sheriff received a note that the winner of the contest was actually Robin Hood himself!

The sheriff sent 300 constables against Robin's band, but they all hid. The constables searched for a week and found nothing. However, a member of the band, Will Stutely, was captured when he tried to get some news. Robin's gang all went to Nottingham to rescue Will. The sheriff's men and Robin's men fought against each other until Little John threw a sword at Will so that he could free himself.

Robin asked a butcher if he could replace him for a day. The butcher agreed. Robin charged only a penny for meat with a three-penny value. Some of Robin's men and the sheriff ate together without the sheriff knowing that Robin was near him. After dinner, they stripped the sheriff of his money.

Later, Arthur-a-Bland lost to Little John and then he agreed to join Robin. They met a gentleman who they fought against, but because Robin recognized him, the gentleman, renamed Will Scarlet, joined Robin's band. They found a minstrel who was deeply troubled. After comforting him, he joined the band by the name of Allan-a-Dale.

They sent off to find the Friar of Fountain Abbey, so Allan-a-Dale could get married. But without knowing, Robin found himself fighting the Friar of Fountain Abbey. The friar sent out his dogs against him. Will Scarlet later explained to Robin that he was actually fighting the friar himself.

They were now heading to Sherwood to explain to the friar about Allan-a-Dale's dilemma. Next, they headed to the church for Allan-a-Dale's wedding, but it appeared that Ellen o' the Dale was going to marry Sir Stephen of Trent, so the bishop said that Sir Stephen was not Ellen's true love. Ellen's father wanted Sir Stephen to marry Ellen, but Sir Stephen objected. Robin gave Allan-a-Dale gifts while he forced the bishop to hand over his gold chain and give it to Allan-a-Dale.

The next day, a page was sent by Queen Eleanor to inform Robin that there will be another shooting contest. There were 800 people competing for first prize (50 pounds of gold coins, a silver bugle, and ten gold-tipped arrows). The bishop then exposed the identity of four men in Robin's band.

Then, the ten best archers competed, and then Robin Hood and another man named Gilbert faced off against each other, because all three of their shots hit dead center. Robin won the grand prize, but the page, whose name was Richard Partington warned Robin about King Henry and how he would track him down.

That night, Robin's band was warned by Richard that the king has sent men to arrest him. Sir Richard passed by and agreed to take Robin to London for his safety.

A stranger named Guy of Gisbourne came after Robin and held an archery contest. As usual, Robin won, but Guy of Gisbourne was going to fight Robin, and he did. But Robin had killed him, and he was unhappy that he killed two people so far. He did not want to kill at all.

The following day, King Richard, the new king after King Henry had died, was visiting Nottingham. King Richard wanted to meet Robin Hood in person mostly because of the zany adventures he has gotten into. He later met with Robin during a banquet and paid 50 pounds of gold money. Robin later got into a fight with King Richard and whoever wins gets the money (50 pounds). King Richard defeated Robin, unlike all the other men.

The next day Robin, Will Scarlet, Little John, and Allan-a-Dale rode with King Richard.

For many years, Robin did not return to Sherwood Forest, but eventually Little John and Will Scarlet left. But years later, King Richard was killed in a battle, only to be replaced by John.

Robin Hood came back to Sherwood Forest and declared that he would become a yeoman once more. Everyone in his former outlaw band came to the scene.

But later, King John sent Sir William Dale to go look for Robin. When he eventually did, his men and Robin's men fought against each other. Robin later got injured. Then, in front of Little John, he would shoot his last arrow. That would be where Robin's grave would be.

The End

The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn

I chose this book to read, and it is written by one of the most famous authors of all time. The book is titled The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain. It is filled with adventure and continues from the book The Adventures of Tom Sawyer. Like all the other books, it is filled with adventures. 5/5!

I suggest you read on if you want to know his adventure.

At a house in the southern states, Huckleberry Finn is living his daily life of waking up, eating meals, doing chores, and spelling words. However, he is tired of all this.

One day, after his dad locks him in a cabin, he breaks out and finds a pig. He cuts it and blood rushes out. He uses this blood to trick everyone that he was murdered. He teams up with a runaway slave, Jim, and hides from the search party looking for him.

They went into a cave and live there for a few days, but after the water level rises four feet, they find a raft and sail up the Mississippi River to the Free States. They met a lot of people and tricked them into believing something else.

After weeks of sailing, they dock at the town of Cairo in Illinois. He lets Jim go at this town, but he comes back once in a while. They meet a duke and a king that Huck and Jim talked about earlier. The duke and the king put on a show and collect gold coins along the way.

Huck sneaks into a ship under the name George Jackson. He meets with a boy named Buck and has even more adventures. Buck explains about the long-lasting feud between his family, the Grangerfords, and a rival family, the Shepherdsons.

They meet William, a man who is deaf and mute, but Huck didn’t know what the hand signs that William was making meant.

After many more events, Jim, the runaway slave, was now a free man. Huck finds out that his dad and aunt died. However, this story doesn’t have a bad ending, like the previous deaths suggest.