In the eye of the Storm by John H. Groberg

                After awhile Elder Groberg is called to serve in Ha'apai, Tonga.  It was interesting to see the differences in the two different islands all said to be combined into one called Tonga.  It seemed like the people in Ha'apai had a little more stuff (since Tongans don't really have money) than the people on Niuapotupatu, Tonga.  Instead of just staying in one general area, he had to sail to all the different islands of Ha'apai, Tonga. He had many cool and interesting experiences there too.
              I did notice that not all the scenes in the movie are in the book.  The book has more in it than the movie, but like I said, it still doesn't contain all the scenes that are in the movie.  It made me wonder why, and I wished the book did have those things in it.  I also noticed that chapter one is different from the rest of the book.
              In chapter one it talks about a time when he's at sea and a bad storm strikes.  The ship overturns and he and the rest of the crew is thrown overboard.  Its then that his companions and him have to swim back to dry land, when their miles away from it.  As far as I remember I don't think it told when this event took place.  Then after the chapter, chapter two begins and its labeled the beginning.  I didn't like that I didn't know when this event took place.  I thought it was supposed to be kind of like a prologue and that it would probably be repeated later in the story.  The thing was that it wasn't and that one (as far as I know) event was out of chronological order.
              In the end of the book Elder Groberg says he met up with Jean after he served his mission, and was later married to her.  They were married in the Los Angeles Temple on September 6, 1957.
              I loved this book and out of a rating of four stars, I'd rate it four stars.  I learned many more things about the Tongan culture, and the author did a great job keeping up your interests in the story.  There weren't many or any parts that bore you.

In the eye of the Storm by John H. Groberg

              I noticed that in this book the author shares a lot of the thoughts and feelings that he had on his mission.  I thought that these thoughts that he shared helped me to better understand the situation of things and what was happening.  I liked that I can see how he really felt, because in the movie you can't tell what he's thinking about or what exactly he's feeling.
             He started out the story with a little about when he grew up (the Great Depression and World War Two), and since I know he's still alive it made me think how that wasn't so long ago after all.  Then he talked a little about high school and how he met Jean Sabin (his future wife) on his first date (it was a blind date).
            After that it proceeds to tell about when he got his mission call.  He says that when he herd he was going to Tonga he didn't even know where that was.  Before he left he and Jean promised that they wouldn't get married to anyone until he returned from his mission.
             It took three months for him to make it to Tonga, due to complications on the trip.  The complications allowed him to serve in the Orange District in California for awhile before he caught a boat to America Samoa.  Then he sailed to Fiji, and finally to Tonga.
              Elder Groberg was sent to serve on the island (there's one hundred seventy one islands) Niuatoputapu, Tonga.  He enjoyed many wonderful spiritual experiences there.
              In one experience a Tongan father came to Elder Groberg carrying the limp body of his son.  Elder Groberg looked down at the child and announced that he was dead.  Then the father said, "I don't know if he's dead or not but I know that you help him".
                So Elder Groberg took the boy into his house and began a form of CPR.  He did this for about a day and a half to two days (and nights) straight.  Eventually the boy woke, and Elder Groberg gave him back to his father.
               Something that the Tongans did for special occasions was that one family had to furnish a pig.  So they would let out a couple pigs out of their pig pen, and a group of men and boys would chase after a certain pig.  When they got to the pig they'd beat it up with machetes, clubs, stones, and sticks until it drew its last breathe.  Then they would fry it up for dinner.
               I really enjoyed the many fun stories that Elder Groberg tells from his mission.  They are all unique and interesting.  They show a great example of a different culture.

Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea by Jules Verne

             Captain Nemo shows the professor the rest of his ship and then disappears for a few days before inviting them to go hunting.  With Nemo's advanced technology they use diving suits to travel down into the depths of the ocean.  Each man has a gun that shoots out glass bullets, which I thought was interesting.  I mean glass, its a lot more breakable than lead.  They travel through the forest of coral and on there way back to the ship Nemo shoots a sea otter.  Again the captain disappears for a while and the three men are left to themselves.
              One day they get caught on a reef and have to wait till the tide rises in five days.  The professor asks Captain Nemo if Conseil, Ned, and him can go hunting on land.  From the beginning Nemo vowed that he'd never return to land again, so the professor is surprised when the captain says yes.
              The three men take a small boat up to the island full of cannibals (which they already know) in hopes of food that's not from the sea, and Ned strongly hopes they can escape.  They find lots of fruit and kill a wild boar.  They roast it and begin to eat it when arrows and stones come flying at them.  They run to the boat as cannibals come after them.
              Later after the tide rises and they leave the island the captain tells the professor that he has to lock them up again.  So he locks them up and drugs their food, so they fall asleep.  When the professor awakes he's in his cabin again and the door is unlocked for him.  The captain comes up to him and asks him if he's a doctor.  He says yes, and is brought to do treatment on a wounded crew mate.  Sadly, the crew mate is beyond help and later dies.
              The captain, his crew, and the three men bury the dead man and have a funeral for him at the bottom of the sea.  The professor knows that what happened to that guy was related to the events of the other day, and that to keep secrets from him the captain had to drug them.
               I think that this book is an easy read but overall its pretty interesting.  The one thing I don't like about it is that it has pictures for every other page.  It just kind of annoying and makes it a little embarrassing to read.  Someone told me that because its and old book it has lots of pictures in it.

Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea by Jules Verne

          I really like how the story's going so far.  Jules Verne, the author, can somehow make the story really interesting.  So far in the book Professor Aronnax (the main person) has decided to take his journey out to the sea to study the mysterious sea creature that's destroying ships.  So he boards the fastest ship in the U.S. Navy.  The captain, Commander Farragut, is positive that his crew will be able to find and destroy the mysterious sea creature.  They identify the creature as a giant narwhal, even though they aren't sure what it is.  One other main character is Ned Land.  He's the most valuable man on the ship because he's an has good eyes, and is extremely good at harpooning whales.
          After a long while at sea they decide to turn back in three days if they don't find the monster.  The author claims that the captain promised this on November second, so they'd turn back November fifth if there was still no sign of the Narwhal.  Suddenly they see the Narwhal and it starting climbing onto the ship.  The crew shot cannons and Ned tried to harpoon it, but they just bounced off the creature harmlessly.
          Professor Aronnax leans over the rail to look at Ned throwing the harpoon and he tumbles into the sea.  Conseil jumps in to save in and the ship is washed away.  Conseil claims its his job to protect the professor and starts swimming while holding the professor.  Soon the professor passes out and when he wakes up he finds that he's on the back of the Narwhal with Conseil and Ned.
           They figure out the creature is a submarine and are taken prisoner below deck.  The captain of the submarine (captain Nemo) tells them that he won't kill them, but that they will have to forever stay so no one knows his secret.  He says they can roam wherever they want to and invites the professor to explore the sea with him.
           One thing that I thought was cool about the way Jules wrote, was that he put dates in his book to make it seem real.  It worked too, because at first I thought it was a true story.  I think I'll enjoy the rest of the story and predict that Ned, Conseil, and the professed will escape.

Nothing Daunted by Dorothy Wickenden

             I'm really disliking this book.  Its a chore just to read it.  The way the author writes, which is all newspaper like, is written in a very grownup way.  There's words that I can't comprehend and I can't fully grasp what the story.  I'm on about page fifty and the author hasn't said much about the characters.  She's said a little more, but not enough.
            Pretty much all I know about the characters is that they arrived in Elkhead by train and were greeted by Farrington Carpenter.  They ate dinner and were taken to their room, witch already had furniture in it.  Then in the morning they had breakfast with cowboys who didn't say much, but had good manners.  Next Carpenter gave them horses to borrow, and then it talks about that they went to Smith (a school for only woman).  It says that they did fun things with their friends, didn't have a desire to be married yet, and a few other things.
            I read the description of the book and it said that it was about the girls getting an education, and how Carpenter has a plan to marry them off to some guys.  Its just I thought that it would focus more on the education.  Its a two hundred and ten page book, you'd think it would have more to comment on about their education.  Most of the book isn't even about the girls.  It just tells about events in history in the area of Elkhead or their home town.
              I do like some of the historical events that she adds to the story, but they are taking up most of the book.  If I was asked if I'd recommend this book to anyone I'd say no.

Janitors book three By Tyler Whitesides

                In this story Spencer finds himself in a tight situation when he finds out the BEM is hunting his dad.  He desperately leaves class with Daisy to warn him, but when he gets home he finds out he's off the grid.  Which means he won't answer because someone has found the package that could contain the secret of disposing toxites forever.  The reason why none of Spencer's dads team can contact each other is because they don't want the BEM listening on their plans.  As soon as Spencer's dad and his team is assembled (which includes Daisy and Spencer) they open the package and journey to a secret landfill where the Aurans are.

              I liked how in the story the Aurans lied and said that they'd take the team to the source of glop that toxites are born from.  What they really plan to do is to somehow separate Spencer from the rest of the team so they can pan him.

              The three boy Aurans (who were panned and not among the girls) warn Spencer that getting panned (when a glopified dustpan is wielded to you) takes away your Auran powers and traps you in the landfill forever unless the pan is remove.  Spencer is the only one who is left that can remove the pan from the other boys, because the boys have special powers that the girls don't have.

             The Aurans and the team travel through a valley of tires that are stuck together in large towers.  They also go through a forest with trees that are giant fork, knives, and spoons.  

              This is the part when the Aurans take Spencer and the BEM waits to attack the team (they were trapped in a giant seven up can because a bunch of mud closed off their exit, and they were digging themselves out).  The Aurans take Spencer to Broomstaff island to get panned (you can only be panned under the right conditions).  When the nine girl Aurans leave Spencer on the island tied to a giant wooden broom staff, the tenth Auran girl comes up to him.  She unties Spencer from the duct tape and helps him escape the island surrounded in steaming glop.  He goes back to help the team with the BEM, and the tenth Auran says she'll try to convince the other Aurans that the boys aren't bad.  

            All the imagination made this a great story.  I think my favorite part of the story was when they were at the landfill, because of the creativity.

Nothing Daunted by Dorothy Wickenden

                      I liked how the author, Dorothy gave background on the story.  The way she writes makes the story kind of fun.  The only problem about the background she's giving, is that so far that is what the story has mostly been about.  She started the story with the girls Ros and Dorothy arriving at their destination and describing how their parents wanted them to take more stuff.  The author also talks about Farrington Carpenter and the letter he sent them about the preparations he's made for their arrival.  The story continues talking about the background of  Auburn, which is the city they left from.  They mention the history of Auburn such as the gold rush and woman trying to get rights.  There are only glimpses of what Dorothy and Ros are doing.  Things that are simply said like, Dorothy and Ros (Rosamond) arrived at the hotel.  The hotel was over the theaters districts and Denvers business.  After that it went on to take about railroads.  What I don't understand is that I thought the story was about Dorothys and Rosamonds, not the background of Auburn.  I think the author put in to much info about Auburn instead of focusing on Dorothy and Ros.
                   Even though I didn't enjoy what the author put into the story, I did enjoy how she wrote things.  Dorothy (the author)  found some interesting events to add onto the story, which kept me absorbed in the story sometimes.  The events added some excitement to the story.  One example from the story is when she said that Dorothy's (the character) dad put twenty dollar coins in the napkins of his birthday guests (on his birthday).  Another technic she used to write the story was that the way she told the story sounded like a newspaper.  I thought it was kind of fun, but for the most part it wasn't.