Now for the last book review of the holidays.Similarly, the story board of this book also takes place during the holidays. It is about this boy named Kyle, who thought that spending a vacation on the Oregon coast might with his family would be great fun. He had never flown before and had also not seen the Pacific Ocean. But who knows that this vacation became a disaster.
Let me introduce the characters. They are:
Kyle - protagonist
Beebee - protagonist's sister
Mother - protagonist's mother
Father - protagonist's father
Daren - bully
Hazeltons - Daren's parents
This story started off interestingly with the teacher asking her pupils to set four goals for their holidays so they would accomplish them and become a better person. Kyle's friend Gary set a goal to grow to a height of six feet. Everyone in class, including the teacher laughed. Then the teacher said that one should set goals that he or she is able to control and work on it. Kyle's goal were as follows:
1) Raise his batting average to over 250
2) Learn to pop a wheelie on his scooter
3) Get his parents to increase his allowance
4) Make Daren leave him alone
Kyle was confident that he would be able to achieve numbers 1 and 2 as all he needed was practice. Number three and four would be more challenging as they require courage. Daren was a the bully in the school. No matter how many times he was being sent to the principal's office, there were no signs of improvement in his behavior. Kyle met Daren when he was 5, on the first day of kindergarten. He came up behind Kyle and bonked Kyle on the head with a box of crayons. As Kyle did not want to be called a crybaby, he walked away from Daren and did not do any thing after that. Big mistake.
From then on, Daren sneaked on Kyle everyday. Daren punched, poked, tripped and shoved Kyle. But something was similar about every bully act that Daren committed on Kyle. That is they never broke the skin or bruise Kyle. When Kyle was in the first grade, being bullied by Daren had become a regular part of his life. Size was only the part of the reason why Kyle ignored all the bullying acts by Daren. The other reason was because fighting was not the way Kyle loved to settle things. When dealing with reasonable people, Kyle can settle any differences with discussions and compromise. But Daren was not reasonable. Daren was a mean trouble maker.
That afternoon, Kyle emptied his locker of all the year's accumulation. These included a petrified apple core, a coupon good for twenty cents of a bag of jellybeans (expiry date: two months ago). three overdue library books and a pair of socks. (Does Kyle even know what does he have in his locker?)
At home, when Kyle was eating crackers, Mother made a surprise announcement. She said that as Kyle was old enough , it is no longer needed for them (father and mother) to hire a sitter to look after he and his sister for he was going to do the job. Kyle immediately asked about the amount of money that he was going to be paid for doing so (eager to complete his summer goals and be a better person). Mother was disgusted and said that he will not be paid as he was part of the family and should contribute what he could. Kyle had to baby sit as his parents were to attend a function.
Kyle's sister Beebee was a financial whizz. When she was two, she wanted a calculator and refused to play with dolls. Last Christmas when she wanted to get a picture with Santa, she asked him to bring her shares of a stock company. As expected, Santa was shocked and said: " I'll try". Maybe Santa could not bring everything a person wants.
That night after the function, Kyle's parents announced that they were going to the Oregon Coast. Beebee asked how father got the money from and said that if he won those money by winning lottery, he had made the wrong choice of buying lottery as the chances of winning are terrible and would be a waste of money (this shows how much she is a financial whizz) . Father said that he was the salesman of the year and that he and his wife would have their expenses paid and were taking them along. Then mother unfolded one of the brochures and said that that was the hotel that they were staying at. Fir trees lined a curved drive way that led to a lodge. Each room overlooked the Pacific Ocean and had a stone fireplace. Baskets of pine cones and apples adorned the bedside tables. The hotel had two swimming pools, one indoor and one outdoor. Beebee then jumped after seeing how much it cost to have a night at this hotel- $375. She asked if there was a Motel 6 around the beach and that that would allow the family to save $1500. (She is a financial whizz).
The family spent the next three weeks planning what to do on the beach. Mother informed that the company had rented a yatch named Elegant Empress and that the celebration was only an all-adults one so Kyle had to baby sit Beebee again.
Finally the day of departure arrived. As Kyle was standing at the big windows watching the plane taxis, someone called him. It was Daren. He too was also going to Oregon Coast and that his parents are also attending the celebration on the Elegant Empress. When Kyle asked Daren where he was staying at during the trip, he was disappointed with Daren's answer. Then Kyle decided that this was the time to make Daren leave him alone and accomplish one of his goals.
The hotel that the Davidsons (Kyle's family) and the Hazeltons did not look like the one on the brochures.Instead of the driveway with the fir trees, there was a plywood side walk, the ones found at construction sites and there was a sign showing the way to the lobby. A bulldozer, rumbled back and forth and the swimming pool was empty. When they were at the lobby, a too cheerful person greeted them: " Welcome to the Frontier Lodge! We were delayed by a labor dispute and you will be living across the street at the Totem Pole Inn".Then a bellhop took them to their room. It was a very old hotel built in 1928. Three presidents have stayed here and the place was popular with celebrities. The lift had broken down and as their room was on the third storey, the bellhop took mother and father's luggage while the two children carried their own. There were no first storey rooms as they did not have furniture (this hotel was going to be teared down soon)
The next day, the Davidsons got up early and after breakfast at the Frontier Lodge, they went to the beach. The view was picturesque. Waves lapped the shore and the gulls swooped above. Then, the family spotted a sign. It was about the procedure on escaping a tsunami. Father read the instructions out and the children. Then father said: "Let's forget about the tsunami and enjoy ourselves.
In the evening, the parents went to attend the celebration. The children ordered pizza and milkshakes. Then, Beebee wanted to buy a candy. Kyle allowed her to go to the Candy Machine to buy the candy while he stayed in the room as he knew that Mother would call back to check on them. After answering Mother's call, Beebee was still not back. She was stuck in the elevator. Kyle then went to call the reception. Shortly after the call, Beebee was back. Kyle was relieved and angry at the same time. He confronted his sister and then both of them started to eat.
Suddenly, an earthquake struck. The whole room was swaying and everything fell on to the floor. Then Beebee screamed: "Ouch!" This made Kyle realise that he had to make sure that they were safe. So he instructed Beebee to get down on to the floor and place her hands above her heads. A loud explosion was heard and the shaking stopped. A pungent smell was in the air. Kyle opened the door and was horrified to see the corridor filled with smoke. He took a wet towel and gave it to Beebee and then both of them ran out of the hotel. On the way, Kyle stumbled across the unconscious body of Daren at the stairwell. Both Beebee and Kyle dragged him down the stairwell. Suddenly, Daren woke up and Kyle explained to him the situation they are in. Daren shouted the word fire and pushed both of them away and ran.
After the siblings ran down the last few steps, Kyle noticed that the lobby was in fire.They ran as fast as they could to the exit. Kyle got his hand burnt by the brass handle of the exit door but he beared the pain and opened the door.Finally they were out.
The new hotel was on fire too. Then Daren approached them. The trio asked about each other's well being. Kyle remembering that earthquakes could cause tsunamis, decided to run uphill. On the other hand, Daren decided to go to the beach near the sea as water will not burn. Kyle was not sure whether this was the right choice but the thing that kept him going was his father's voice reading out the instructions. After walking for a while, the duo heard the sounds of cows. They then strained to hear the sounds and found that it was a recording. Kyle thought that this was the work of farmers and when any cow does not come home, they will play the recording so that the stray cows hear it and know where to go.
The duo went on and heard someone following behind them. It was an old couple with a dog. The old woman told the children to go up the hill as there has been a tsunami warning. Curious, Kyle asked how they knew that there was a warning and the man said that they heard the cows mooing. (The town council decided that cows mooing was not as frightening as a siren)
On the Elegant Empress, the party was in full swing . Just then, the president of the company informed everyone on board that there was an earthquake on the Orgen Coast. This made the Davidsons and the Hazletons nervous.
Beebee asked why were there no other people coming up with them. The woman said there were many false alarm and that the people no longer trusted the signal. There were some people still on the beach and they were waiting excitedly for the arrival of the huge wave and counted every minute that went past. Daren was also there thinking what a fool Kyle had been. On the other hand, the four people climbing uphill continued their way up. Then they heard the first wave roaring in. It went up close to them and they immediately climbed up further. After a while, the woman decided that her legs could take her up no more and decided to take a break. The man followed her and let the dog followed the kids. The children climbed up further inland. Beebee soon got tired. They too decided to rest. So they hid behind a tree and hoped that the tree would help them. The dog started shivering vigorously and the next wave roared in. It was worse than the first. Many trees were being up rooted and Kyle lost faith in his idea that the tree would protect them. The waters rose to their ankles.
The children were dead beat and wanted to sleep. So they rested against a tree. Luckily nothing happened in the night.
The next morning, the siblings and the dog made their way down the hill. The scene was as if it was the end of the world. Hungry, they searched for food. Kyle found a refrigerator nearby and ate the bread in the refrigerator. Then they stumbled across a few cans of seven up and drank them. The dog was also fed bread and seven up.
A tentage was set up at the beach and sandwiches and drinks were being served there. That was the place where people came to search for their relatives. After getting some sandwiches and drinks from the counter, the siblings went to join the queue. Daren then came. He survived as he hid in the lift tower. He wanted to pick on Kyle's sister when Kyle stopped him and said:" You there lay a finger on her and you will regret." Daren was shock and then went to get some food.Just then, the old man came, without his wife.He told that his wife was unable to cling on to the tree branch and was swept away. He wanted to go with her but wanted to see his gran children grow up. Then a man announced that anybody who wants to enquire about the Elegant Express are to follow him. There, a big reunion between the siblings and their parents was seen.
Back at home, Kyle got his allowance up for taking good care of his sister during the disaster and Daren never made fun of him anymore.
Well I think living in Singapore is really something to be proud of because our small little island is free of natural disasters. We do not have the 4 seasons and our weather is always hot.But we are natural disaster free. Isn't that something to be thankful of?
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