The Golden Compass (part 3) by Philip Pullman

This is the third entry in my series of Golden Compass reading journal entries. I suggest you read the first two before you read this one.

Since last time, a lot has happened in the story. Lyra is up north. She makes friend with an armored bear. An armored bear is a bear that you can hire to defend you and such. They are immune to basically everything. Now this bear is traveling with the Gyptians, and defending them.

The first horrifying thing (this kept me up reading at 12:30 at night) that happens when the groups of travelers are up north is that while Lyra is reading her aleitheometer (a device used by Lyra to find out the truth), she gets a funny feeling from a village. The bear takes her to the village, and the locals of the village eagerly point her towards the thing that pulled her into the village.

As Lyra and Pantelaimon (her daemon), approach a little shack with the mystery inside it, they are quivering with fear. They finally get the courage to open it, and they find a child. The reason this is so horribly horrifying is that his daemon is gone. The gobblers have taken his daemon away! It is considered horrible etiquette to touch someone else’s daemon, but to SEPARATE the daemon from his or her owner is just plain wrong. The owner and the daemon feel such intense pain and heartbreak when they are being separated that it is almost unbearable.

Now because I’m finding it hard to know what to right about, I’m going to tell you how I am similar to Lyra. Lyra and me both like taking risks, and both don’t follow the rules all the time. Her and I also like taking adventures (like how she was so eager to learn about this thing called dust). I would say she is a bit more extreme with everything she does, like running around on rooftops (although that is fun), but of course it is a book.

I still love this book, and think that it is wonderful. Throughout the whole book so far, it has been getting better and better as its been going along. I still highly, very highly recommend this book to you.

The Golden Compass (part 2) by Philip Pullman

This is the second entry in my book journal about this book. I suggest that you read the first entry before reading this.

So far, this is what has happened since last time. A gobbler kidnaps the main character Lyra. A gobbler is a person who steals children, and brings them up to the north. There is a large network of these seemingly ordinary people, and everyone is trying to figure out “why would anyone want to steal children?” She gets pampered like a princess by the gobbler (who is actually someone very important). Lyra’s daemon tells Lyra that she has been kidnapped, and luckily, she runs away!

Lyra gets rescued by a group of people named the Gyptians. Lyra even has some close family ties with the group of people, or culture. The Gyptians take Lyra in, and treat her like fa
mily. The Gyptians have gotten a lot of children stolen by the gobblers, so they plan to go to the north to rescue all of the children. After hours of persuading done by Lyra, they also take her along.

My opinion about this book still hasn’t changed, in that it is very well written, and very consistent in its quality

For the next entry, this is what I predict will happen. I predict that Lyra will go on a boat and get to the north. I also predict that she will have an easy time coping with the north, and the troubles that arise in it, because she is very tomboyish and tough. But I do think that her and the crew of Gyptians that have arrived in the north will experience much violence and pain.

The Golden Compass by Philip Pullman

I just started The Golden Compass, and so far, I like it a lot. I can tell that this will be a very good series.

Most people in this world have a creature named a daemon that go through life with them, kind of like a permanent pet. The story is about a girl named Lyra and her daemon Pantalaimon, and her adventures with her living in a college (she was adopted by her uncle.)

Lyra lives in a college called Jordan College. This college has a very large set of rules, and the people in it are usually adults following the rules, and talking about all sorts of complex things. Lyra is a dedicated tomboy, always getting her clothes dirty and running around everywhere (even on the college roofs), so she is sort of an oddball in the college setting. Lyra has a very big group of kids that she hangs out with outside the college, so there is a sense of community there.

The book starts off explaining Lyra’s life. The first explaining that the book does about Lyra’s life is that she is caught in a twitchy situation. Her uncle, Lord Asriel is inviting some guests over. Lyra is in The Master’s (a person) room when she shouldn’t be. He comes in the room, Lyra hides in a wardrobe, and spies on The Master. Apparently, The Master doesn’t like Lord Asriel, so he slips some poison into Lord Asriel’s wine.

I like Philip Pullman’s style of writing. It is extremely descriptive, and uses words that you wouldn’t usually come across, thus expanding you’re vocabulary. Even though I have just started this book, I would recommend it to anyone.

Camp 30 (part 2) by Eric Walters

I just finished Camp 30, and I liked it a lot. Last time in my head I predicted what might happen in the story, it turned out to be right. Eric Walter’s books might be a tad to predictable, but they are still good.

This is some of what happened since the last time I wrote. The two boys have become very good friends with a German army commander. Their friendship saves the two boys lives in the end! I can’t tell you more about him, because it would ruin the story. I can tell you that what happens is very exciting while it lasts.

This story also teaches a lesson, that enemies can still be your friends, no matter how evil it is what they’re doing. The enemy in this case is the German soldiers. They are the boys’ friends because they are kind to them. The soldiers were being nice to the kids because they felt safe and protected.

There is one thing that I found weird while I was reading this book. When I reached the problem part in the story, I was like “there’s only a few pages left, and the problem just got started?” I would’ve liked for there to be a bit more conflict in the story. Eric Walters writes the whole book leading up to the problem, but when you get there its over very fast, then the book is done.

I like the way the characters are portrayed in the book. They are very adventurous and risky kids. They don’t listen to the usual rules, and that’s what makes this series of books so good. They are very easygoing and kind to people. Bill is also a main character. He is the head of Camp X (from the first book). He is very knowledgeable, kind and flexible.

I highly recommend this book to you, even if you haven’t read the first one. I would rate this book an 8/10.