By: Steven HouJournal Response

5/10/06Title: I want to go home!Author: Gordon KormanChapter 5: Land-ho!

There was a boy named Rudy Miller. He is currently in a camp called Camp Algonkian Island. They do sports and activities. But Rudy hates camp, he thinks Algonkian is Alcatraz. He never gets along with other boys and he never joins in on activities. He and he and his companion Mike Webster hate camp and they’re escaping in a sail boat back to mainland. So, they steal stuff like life jackets and emergency oars. Neither Rudy nor Mike paddled. Both their bodies just lay on the boat. It was only 6:00 a.m. and everybody at camp was fast asleep. But leaving at 6:00 must’ve made them really sleepy. In a couple of minutes, the kids were dead asleep. A jar shook Rudy and Mike awake. They hit land. Rudy and Mike ran to the city. There were people. They both stopped dead. There was the wash station, the baseball diamond, the mess hall, and the cabins from 1- 22. Since no one was steering, they landed right back onto Algonkian Island. People were still sleeping, so Mike and Rudy entered there cabin.

Rudy does a lot of bad things and gets in trouble. One thing I know, Rudy is always truthful about the bad deeds he has created. (Well, almost all the time)…

While I read this chapter, I had many different feelings on what Rudy has done. Sometimes I felt sad for the boy and sometimes I smiled at his expressions. I feel sad for him because, he doesn’t fit in with other boys. In the other chapters, Rudy has an amazing act on all the sports he doesn’t play. Sure, he has a bad attitude, but that’s not going to stop Rudy from becoming a good, athletic boy. The only reason Rudy is at camp is to raise his full potential of turning into a boy like the other boys. A lot of times when kids change, they change forever. I feel very happy for Rudy because since Chip, Rudy’s cabin’s counselor and the other team counselors forced Rudy to join in on the sports, Rudy is becoming a good boy. Right now, he still has a bad attitude. In Baseball, Rudy hit 3 homeruns and caught hard balls that were meant to be homeruns. In soccer, he made 10 goals and assisted 6 other kids make goals. You don’t want to know how good he is in swimming. It’s all about growing up, people can do different things and

Rudy has made great progress in growing up and joining other kids. That Rudy sure is something.

I was thinking about the way Rudy or Mike would have felt about escaping. Since Rudy hates camp so much, he’s trying to escape. I would never do that because that’s dangerous, dishonest, and stupid. They steal boats without permission, but Chip always gets in the way. I think Rudy should stay a little bit longer, only because he’s starting to get the hang of camp. If I ever escape from something, which I have done, I would try to control my actions. Rudy cannot control his actions; therefore, he always neglects camp. In the other chapters ahead he tries to escape 3 times and he gets caught in those three times by chip. But one time he escaped to mainland and was hunted by the counselors. The fugitives had to keep running, but they got caught again. Just like in chasing the falconers. First, Rudy hated everyone and everything on the camp, but Rudy had found his own kind, his kind was a little like the other boys, but as the kids spend time together, each one learns from the other.

This book is full of amazing surprises. This book is one of my favorites and I really want to get to the end. Who knows what could be in the end of the book? I was thinking of reading this book in read-aloud.