I am reading The Snake Charmer by Jamie James. It is about Joe Slowinski who was a very intelligent snake expert. The blurb on the back says it is about his final expedition in the forests of Burma. After I was a couple chapters in I realized that the book was a biography of his life. I flipped through the book and saw that about 150 pages in, the big conflict starts. Each chapter of the book is sort of little story from a part of his life.  I chose a certain story from when he was 16.

This story is focused on the my book club's inquiry question which is, how does the character deal with and overcome the conflict in the story. When Joe is going on a special trip to dig for mammoth bones, him an his dad stop for thee night at a campsite. As his dad goes out to get Joe decides to go wildlife hunting and uncovers a rock with a rattle snake underneath it. The snake jumps up and bites him on the hand. Joe tries to get help but no one will listen. He ends up walking two miles to the nearest ranger station. I think this is a good example dealing with a conflict because how he perservered. How a person deals with a conflict is a good way to see character traits. Most people would would panic after being bitten by a snake, but Joe calmly tried to find help. This shows that he is brave. Also, after this incedent, Joe goes on to become a snake specialist, which also shows that he very brave.

This could relate to teens saying how they could become more brave. This book can show people how to keep going. Joe's has bravery and conflict sewn throughout his life story. If we are struggling with something like bullying, be brave. This book is very good at that. It shows how to deal with a conflict.

The 51st state

The people of Cheyenne Wells, Colorado gather together in a coffee shop to discuss something big, something that could change America, a 51st state. They are tired of how liberal the state of Colorado has become, and they have had enough of its Democratic leaders. Protesters in 11 rural Colorado countries have started a movement to break from Colorado and form a new state. There are many problems they have to face to accomplish this though. American history is full of states that have tried to break away from their original state, but almost none of them have succeeded.

There have been multiple attempts at creating new states. Not a lot of people hear about Absaroka or Texlahoma, but they almost became states. This is the first attempt in a long time. Most of the time states try to break away out of frustration for not getting represented. The people of Colorado are upset because of how liberal Colorado has gotten. They has to face many challenges to become a there own state. First all 11 countries have to vote to leave. Then the Colorado has to let them leave. Then Congress has to agree to admit a new state. These three steps are extremely difficult. These are the reasons that I think Colorado will not succeed at becoming a new state.

 Although Colorado probably will not become it's own state, there will be new states in the future. "It's a safe bet to say the American map is going to change in our lifetime," says Michael Trinklien. "It's sort of naive to think we're locked in at 50 and thats the end of story." Colorado's attempt is probably not going to work, but we are definitly going to see new states in the future.

I am reading Jurassic Park by Michael Crichton. When Alan Grant (A paleantologist) is called by John Hammond who is a very wealthy man. He tells Alan that he wants him to come look at his new biological preserve, in other words a zoo. Grant agrees to come for the weekend, but when he gets there he is not ready for what he sees. The animals in the park turn out to be real live dinosaurs. The park looks like it is safe, but there turn out to be many problems with it. Then the problems get to large to control and there goes from being eight velociraptors to 37 of them.

A big lesson in this book is do not try to control something you cannot contol. The owners of Jurrasic Park were so fixated on thinking they could control the dinosaurs, that they let things get to out hand before they realized the problem. When a bad storm hits the park, the power shuts down. This turns off the electric fences that hold the dinosaurs in captivity. They didn't realize that the dinosaurs were breeding either. Then there were way more animals than they previeously thought. These things show that you should not try to contol what you can't control.

This relates to humanity because sometimes we try to tackle problems that are to large and we end up wasting lots of resources and people. In Jurrasic park, the park is funded lots of money to build it, but all this money goes to waste because they are not allowed to open it to the public if it can not control the dinosaurs. If a company tries to do something that sounds really cool, for example, making dinosuars, but it is something that cannot control they will mess up and create a disaster.