Virtual Book Club

Hi everyone, this summer I am attending my first virtual book club. We are discussing the book “Fantastic Mr.Fox” by Roland Dahl. The book club is organized by Alameda County Library. After I read a book I like talking about the characters and the story, so mom suggested that attending this book club will give me the opportunity to do the same.

The first book club was on June 16th. We have 6 students (including me), the librarian (Tara), and the book club leader. Our book club leader is a rising freshman named Yuvraj Waila from San Jose Misson school.  All the students in our book club are fourth graders. One of my school friends Vivek is also attending the book club. 

At the beginning of the session, we all introduced ourselves and we talked to each other for a few minutes. We read and discussed the first seven chapters in the book.  I had a good time talking to the group about the story and the characters. For the next session, we have to read the next seven chapters. I am looking forward to the next session.

Percy Jackson

One of my favorite series is Percy Jackson written by Rick Riordan. These are the series I have read so far 

• Percy Jackson and the Olympian
• Magnus Chase and the Gods of Asgard
• The Heroes of Olympus 
• The Kane Chronicles  
• The Trials of Apollo  - the 5th book is scheduled to be released on  October 6th. I can’t wait to read this book. Mom said that she is going to take me to the author's book signing event if it is safe.

My favorite series is "Percy Jackson and the Olympian". This is about a twelve-year-old Percy Jackson who discovers he is a son of the Greek god Poseidon.

 My favorite character is Percy because he is loyal and kind. The best book in the series is the “The Last Olympian”. I also like the characters Annabeth and Grover as they are smart and loyal friends of Percy.

My first weekend of Summer vacation

I am back with another blog post. If you haven’t checked out my first post please check it out. I hope you will like it.

The last day of school was on Friday (June 5th).  I was doing my last day online videos and mom and dad surprised me with In N Out Burger (My favorite treat). Later in the day we went to Adi Anna’s house and we were joined by Pranav’s family ( as I like to call it :)).I had lots of fun with Pranav and Adi Anna. Krupa Atta made superb Tacos, Mrudula Atta made delicious Panner and  Mom made yummy carrot rice and Sabudana Kichidi. I enjoyed the food and the company.

Shortly after dinner Pranav left for home. Then we played games like Quiplash 2, Guesspionage and Trivia Murder Party games. A little later mom and dad left and I stayed for a sleepover at Adi Anna’s house. Adi Anna and I played video games until 12:00 AM ( as it’s the first weekend after school so it is a treat ). We slept and woke up the next morning and we devoured the scrumptious waffles with maple syrup. 

After breakfast we played video games and by then mom and dad came to pick me up. While coming mom and dad bought some Hot and Fresh Donuts for us from Krispy Kreme. I ate donuts and then we headed for Pranav’s house.

We hung out at Pranav’s house for 4 hours. We all had fun playing with “Pramav” ( as he calls himself :)). We had lunch at Mrudula Atta’s house and I loved Rotimatic Chapati. We headed home and played video games and I spoke to mom and dad for sometime. Then I wanted to write this blog and that sums up my first summer break weekend. 

Thank you for taking time to read this post. Aloha.

Avatar: The Last Airbender

Hi this is Arjun. I recently watched the Avatar series and this is my review.

Avatar: The Last Airbender is about a 12 year old boy named Aang. I got to know about this series from Mrudula Atta, Aneesh Mama and Adi Anna. I watched the first episode at Mrudula Atta’s house. This was first aired in 2007 and is available on Netflix. It has 3 seasons.  

In the Avatar series the world is divided into four nations called the Water Tribe, the Earth kingdom, the Fire Nations and the Air Nomads. Traditionally, Benders have the ability to control and manipulate the element from their nation only. The Avatar is the person who has mastered/ need to master all the four elements. The Fire Nation wants to conquer the world but the previous Avatar who is Aang (the last airbender) shows up. The series revolves around Aang and his friends Katara and Sokka.

The main characters in the series are Aang (The Avatar/ The Last Airbender) and his two friends from the southern water tribe named Katara and Sokka. Avatar Roku, who was Aang’s predecessor, was the best friend of Fire Lord Sozin. Sozin used an incredible comet to deal a deadly first strike against the other nations who were the earth kingdom, air nomads and water tribe. So he sent his firebending army to kill all the airbenders.  Avatar Aang managed to elude him. Lord Sozin and all the other fire nation kings until Ozai wanted to kill the avatar for their reign was in the war. The Avatar's role is to keep balance to the world.

In season 1,  Katara and Sokka first take Aang to the northern water tribe but on the way Aang makes a shocking discovery that the fire nation killed his people. Once they reach the north pole Aang convinces Master Pakku to train him in water bending. The fire nation laid siege to the north pole because they wanted to kill him. By the end of the season he masters water bending. 

 In the start of season 2,  Aang with his two friends head to the earth kingdom city of Omashu. Here he meets a crazy General, who wants to use Aang’s powerful Avatar state to defeat the fire lord quickly. Aang agrees to this plan. When the plan doesn't work as expected the crazy General pulls Katara into the earth which aggravates Aang. This brings out Aang’s Avatar State. He rescues Katara. He meets his predecessor Avatar Roku in the spirit world. Avatar Roku tells Aang that the Avatar state is a defense mechanism when you are at your most powerful and vulnerable. He tells Aang that if Aang is killed in the Avatar state the Avatar cycle is broken and there will be no more avatars.He meets an Earth bender teacher named Toph, who joins the group. By the end of season 2 Aang masters earth bending.

At the start of season 3 , Aang, Katara, Sokka and Toph go to the fire nation to find Aang Fire bending teacher. Aang finds a teacher in Prince Zuko who is the son of Ozai. He teaches Aang fire bending. Aang faces Fire Lord Ozai in the final battle. During the battle Aang manages to take away Ozai’s fire bending powers. After the battle Ozai was arrested and Zuko became the king who gives a speech to everyone from all nations about love and peace.  Aang saved the world and forever after peace reigned.

This series taught me that good triumphs over evil and also to not give up when things get difficult in life. I would recommend this series to anyone who likes to watch anime.

PS: I really liked the following episodes in the series 

Season1 episode 5, episode 8 and episode 10

Season 2 episode 20 

Season 3 episode 4, episode 7, episode 14, episode 15, episode 16 and episode 21.