Reports from the Field: New Book Reports Just In

Jake & Emily's latest monthly book project involved drafting "postcards" to friends as if they were a character in whatever historic fiction book they just read.

Emily - assuming the role of Julie Wiess, age 10, living in Vienna, Austria, during Hitler's reign there - pretended to be writing to her good friend Roxanne in Quebec.

Jake decide to play the role of himself while writing to Mickey Mouse and describing the story two young boys who stumbled upon a WWII spy-training camp in Ontario, Canada. Here's what they had to say...


Dear Roxanne,

Here in Vienna, Austria a lot of bad things are happening. Mother has lost all her jewely, because of Hitler. He has taken over Vienna! He has made a law that Jewish people should not be treated like others. We have to scrub streets, close our stores, stand at school, and we have to walk everywhere too. Now it is highly dangerous to be a Jew. I do not know what will happen to my family, but it scares me to think about it. Maybe we'll have to move.


Dear Mickey,

It's Jake. Here is a part of a true story about World War II. The story is called Camp X. It is about two boys named Jack and George. The part I'm going to tell you is about them spying on the secret milatary camp called Camp X. Jack and George were spying on a top secret camp. The boys saw a 100ft tall building. It was covered with stones, and people were climbing up it and then parachuting down off it. But then they found themselves serving for the camp, because Jack and George made it through the security without setting it off. Read the book and it'll probably make you be a spy too!

As for Drew, the focus of his Language Arts class has been on writing descriptive narratives. In his latest work, he chose to share an experience he had while we were cruising in the Exumas. He took quite a bit of creative license in embellishing the story, but we'll leave it to readers to sort out the truth from fiction...

Black Point Cliffs, by Drew

We walked on the small cracked road that led to no where. We came to a small sign that looked like it had been through gusts of 100 knot winds. It read BEACH. Looking around, we followed the path to the water's edge. The waves were crashing on the shore with tremendous force. It sounded like a train was passing by it was so loud. In the distance I saw sleek white limestone cliffs rising out of the purple water that gleamed with sea life. We walked in their direction along the beach, examining shells and other little things. Giant rocks jutted from the sand like they had been placed there just to let the waves erode them.

We finally got to the cliffs. They were as cold as ice from being snapped by all the salt spray. There was a small crack going along the cliff just wide enough to put your feet in. As my friends watched, I slowly inched along. There finally appeared a small ledge about 6 inches wide. The edge grew wider as I went along. I climbed higher and higher. About 50 feet up there was a small cave. The floor was covered in dirt. No foot prints were on the floor. I felt like an explorer finding a place that no one or thing had touched in 1,000 years. When I peered over the ledge, I saw the purple water thrashing below and felt like I might be stuck here forever. The distance to the water was greater than I had realized. My friends were playing on the beach below.

"Hey guys," I yelled, "Up here! Up here!" They couldn't hear me over the wind and the roar of the waves. They had begun to play a game, oblivious to anything I said. I sat down to catch my breath. As I looked out over the ocean, I felt as though I could see for thousands of miles. The view was amazing. The water was clear enough to see the miles of reef stretched out along the side of the island.

I kept climbing. The rock grew warm as the sun went higher in the sky like a bird. Some of the rocks came loose when I tried to use them for a hand hold. I watched them plummet to their eerie grave in the churning water below me. The water engulfed the rocks like a whale feeding on krill.

There were almost no plants atop the cliff. The small shrubs and sea grass I had noticed clinging to the cliff on my way up grew thinner and thinner. Suddenly my food slipped from underneath me and I screamed as visions passed through my head of me plunging down into the icy cold water. But when I opened my eyes I found that I was still hanging onto the cliff. My hands were getting sweaty and slipping so I had to find a food hold fast. The rocks kept breaking off wherever I put my foot. I finally got my grip and kept climbing. My arms were sore from all the grabbing and reaching, and my finger tips were raw and bleeding. I had to make it to the top. Stopping was not an option now that I was 120 feet up the rock face. Only 30 more feet to go until the top. I felt like I was a climber on Mt. Everest and was about to die. But, when my hand reached out and felt the soft sand at the top, I knew I had done it and that I would live. I looked down and my heart skipped a beat for the view was much more breathtaking than before. I could barely explain the feeling I had when I looked out upon the open sea.

Looking away from the ocean I found a small steep path that led down and around the back side of the cliff through the mangroves. I was overjoyed that I wouldn't have to climb down the cliff. I started to make my way down. When I finally got to the bottom I found my friends waiting for me to walk back down the beach and go home.