Nick

Book: __Skeleton Key__

Pages read: 1-146

Title I Created: Shipped Away

Date: 4/28/10

Significant Quote: “Belinda Troy had said nothing. She was watching Alex with dark, thoughtful eyes already sizing him up.” (p. 106)

Explanation: This quote is important because it shows how the CIA agent Belinda Troy had underestimated Alex. Alex is very smart, and he has saved the world twice. She thinks that he will fool around and blow their cover when they sneak into the island called Skeleton Key. When she first meets Alex, Belinda is very rude towards Alex and doesn’t trust him to complete a mission. She thinks that since Alex is only fourteen, he will not be a good spy. Alex proves her wrong by saving Glen Carver, her partner, from being killed. He snuck onto a boat where Glen was help hostage and got him off the boat by distracting the crew members by setting oil barrels on fire. This incident proved to Belinda that Alex had great potential, and he is an excellent spy. Belinda shouldn’t have judged Alex because of his age and he ended up to be a good partner to her. She learned not to judge a book by its cover.

HOT Q: Do you think that this book is realistic and why?

Answer: I do think that this book is realistic. In real life, there are terrorists who want to kill people or bomb parts of the earth. By using certain gadgets, Alex can outsmart adults and foil their plans. It is also realistic that he can do this because no one would suspect a teenage boy of being a spy. Most of the stunts he pulls are also realistic, such as creating a distraction to help someone escape. Alex is very mature for his age, but the things he does are very believable which makes the book realistic.

Connection: I can make a text-to-text connection with the book __Stormbreaker__. __Skeleton Key__ is in the same series, and features Alex Rider as the main character. In __Stormbreaker__, he proved to be very intelligent and daring by saving England from a deadly disease. He was sent only to spy on someone and find out information about new computers being released. He went above that and actually stopped the computers from being turned on because they contained a disease. In __Skeleton Key__, he proved to be skillful again by saving a CIA agent from being killed. He snuck onto a boat and freed the agent. No one expected Alex to do either of these things, and he surprised the adults who he worked with.