Summer Reading Assignment: Dodger

Entry 1:

The book that I read over the summer was Dodger By Terry Pratchett. All though the book has many characters in it the main character is guy that lives in London named Jack Dodger. Dodger is a Toshe (which is someone that lives in the sewer looking for money and other kinds of treasure). One rainy and stormy night, Dodger sees a screaming women get thrown out of a carriage. Then two men jump out of the carriage to get her but Dodger scares them off. Then, Dodger takes the woman (Simplicity) to a neighbor's house where she will be safe. Dodger learns that Simplicity is a princess from England and is married to a royal family member from another country. The conflict of the story is that Simplicity's husband wants to take her back to his country but she does not want to go with him because he is abusive. Meanwhile Dodger is stuck in the middle of it. What will Dodger do to save Simplicity from her Abusive Husband. This book is a little bit like Romeo and Juliet. The Princess doesn't want to be married to her husband just like Romeo and Juliet's families don't want them to be married to each other.


Entry 2:

There are two major characters in Dodger, Jack Dodger and Simplicity, a princess. Dodger is a very independent person at the start of the book. He is always crawling around in the sewer. He didn't have a family growing up, he was an orphan, who was constantly picked on by the other kids. He got the name Dodger by quickly avoiding the punches and kicks from the other orphans. Dodger is also a risk taker. In the begging he sees a screaming woman get thrown out of a carriage and he sees two men jump after her. Instead of running away he scares off the men. The men could have easily turned on him but Dodger took the risk anyways. Simplicity is the other main character. In the beginning not much is known about Simplicity. She is very mysterious. Later in the book we know that Simplicity wants to get away from her abusive husband and wants to stay with Dodger in London. Dodger has a theme of freedom. Simplicity wants to run away and be free from her husband. The book is structured with a big event happening first with little events in the middle leading up to one final big event.


Entry 3:

"A fancy two-horse coach wallowed its way along the street, some piece of metal stuck near an axle causing it to be heralded by a scream. And indeed there was a scream, a human scream this time, as the coach door was flung open and a figure tumbled out into the gushing gutter, which tonight was doing the job of a fountain. Two other figures sprang from the coach, cursing in language that was as colorful as the night was dark and even dirtier. In the downpour, fitfully lit but the first figure tried to escape but tripped, fell, and was leaped upon." This is at the beginning of the book when Simplicity is thrown out of the carriage and then Dodger scares them off. This was at the very beginning of the book and it instantly hooked me. Whenever some action is at the beginning of the book I think it will instantly hook the reader like it hooked me. Since I didn't know exactly what was going on in the book it made me want to read more. I think because of all of the action and the drama it made this a good hook to the beginning of the book causing me to want to read more.


Entry 4:

I choose this book because it was based back in London around the 1800s. When I was looking at it I thought this book was going be about history back in London in the 1800s but it turned out to be an action and an adventure book. I really liked this book from the beginning. It was very engaging from the first page because there was a lot of action and you didn't know if there was a kidnapping or if someone was trying to get away from someone. I would recommend this book to anyone who likes a book with a lot of action and adventure in it, it is full of it. There was never a point in the book that was boring and made me want to put it down. I would also like to recommend this book to people who like spy books. Dodger eventually becomes a spy because of all of the things that he does in the book which catches the eye of the Police and the government. I really don't like to read a lot but this book always made me want to pick it up again and it was a really fun and enjoyable read.