My Top 10 Books #10

My Top 10 Books is going to be a series of short book reviews on my top 10 favorite books. I will be posting a review every two days.

The number ten book on my list is written by Eloise McGraw. The Seventeenth Swap.

The Seventeenth Swap is a book based in the mid 80's in a small town called Iron Mountain. The main character, Eric Greene, is a kid who lives in a run down apartment complex with his Dad. Every couple of days he watches a boy, Jimmy, in another apartment room while Jimmy's mother is gone at work. Jimmy needs someone to watch him because he's paralyzed and can't walk.

One day while watching Jimmy he sees an ad for red cowboy boots that are on sale for $17.99. Jimmy adores the boots and says he would give anything for them. Right then Eric decides to find a way to buy the boots for Jimmy. But only one problem, where is he going to get $18?

This book is very well written and definitely a good read for realistic fiction lovers. It has you wanting to turn the pages to find out what happens next. And at 150 pages it doesn't take a lot of time to read.

I would most definitely recommend this book. So if you think that this would be a good book for you, click on this link,

https://www.amazon.com/Seventeenth-Swap-Eloise-Mcgraw/dp/0689503989

and order it today! Or just go to your local Library!  

Commodore Cornelius Vanderbilt: Steamboat and railroad tycoon

Cornelius Vanderbilt was a 19^th century entrepreneur who made made his riches in producing and sailing steamboats and creating some of the biggest railroad lines. He was born on Staten Island on May 27, 1794 into a poor family who couldn't give him a very good education. But with perseverance and hard work Vanderbilt became one of the most wealthy people in American history. As a boy he worked with his father on a steamboat line and found his interest for ships there. As a teenager he started shipping things on his own steamboat and a few years after that he bought a small fleet of ships and became a captain.

During the California gold rush of 1849 Vanderbilt started a steamboat line on the Atlantic and Caribbean to help ship things from California back to the east. And instead of going down to Panama to get to the west, Vanderbilt's ships went through Nicaragua and went back and forth a lot faster than going down to Panama. He even proposed putting a canal in Nicaragua because it was faster and most of it was already there with Lake Nicaragua and the San Jose River but Vanderbilt didn't get enough endorsements so the plans never followed through.

In the 1860s Vanderbilt started focusing on the up and coming Railroad industry. He started by buying a couple of lines that ran between Chicago and New York and introduced a new system called the inter-regional railroad system. It changed the way the railroads work by putting long lines in, instead of a lot of short lines. It made traveling cheaper and faster. Vanderbilt's system changed the railroad industry very positively.

At the start of the Civil War, Vanderbilt went to the Union army and offered his biggest and best steamboat the Vanderbilt but the army wasn't interested at that point claiming the war wouldn't last very long. But when the famous Confederate ship, the Merrimack, started raiding the east coast, the army took Vanderbilt's deal and his ship. The Vanderbilt stopped the Merrimack in its tracks. After stopping the Merrimack, the Vanderbilt helped track down another of the Confederate's ships. And for Vanderbilt's service to the Union army he was awarded the Congressional Gold Medal.

In 1869 the cousin of Vanderbilt's wife talked him into endorsing a University which eventually became, Vanderbilt University named in Vanderbilt's honor. And by no coincidence the schools nickname became the Commodores.

Cornelius Vanderbilt died on January 4, 1877, at his home in New England. His net worth at his death was over $100 million and in today's that's approximately $2,333,296,875 in 2016 dollars! 

For the Love of Money is the Root of All Evil: 1 Timothy 6:10

This is a famous verse from the Bible that even non-Christians know. It talks about money and if you love it too much it becomes like an idol and it can control your life. This is not to say that having a lot of money is bad, just don't let your love for money control you.

There is a song by the O'Jays called “For the Love of Money” it talks about money, obviously, and how people will steal for it and hurt for it. It's actually a pretty good song, lyrically and musically.

If you're thinking that being wealthy is immoral, well it's not necessarily wrong. It's not the amount of money that's immoral, it's the person who has or wants it that's immoral.

So if you ask yourself, “is it immoral or moral to be wealthy?” You can't just say it is or isn't, you have to look at a person and say, “are they being moral or immoral with their wealth?” To answer this question you need to look at what they do with their wealth. Do they love their money so much that it becomes an idol? Do they use their wealth for drugs and alcohol and other immoral things? Or do they put God, their family, and people in need before their wealth? That's how you can decide. It's the person behind the money that makes it right or wrong.

Another thing to point out is that not all people that give to charities are doing it because they want to help. They could be doing it to show off their wealth, like the Pharisees in the Bible. Are the people giving for the right reasons? Like the widow in the Bible. She gave out of her heart and didn't put her money before God.

Mark 12:41-44 (NIV)

Jesus sat down opposite the place where the offerings were put and watched the crowd putting their money into the temple treasury. Many rich people threw in large amounts. But a poor widow came and put in two very small copper coins, worth only a few cents.

Calling his disciples to him, Jesus said, “Truly I tell you, this poor widow has put more into the treasury than all the others. They all gave out of their wealth; but she, out of her poverty, put in everything—all she had to live on.”

So the next time you see someone who is wealthy, don't automatically think, “oh they're a horrible person because they're rich.” Look at what they do with their money. Do they use it to make the “world a better place?” or do they use it for themselves and their own well being? I’m not saying “someone should give all their money away” they have to use it for themselves. But are they exclusively thinking about themselves and their money. In other words, selfishness and idolatry.

The Lion of the North: A Story of the 30 Years War

The Lion of the North was written by G. A. Henty and is based around the 30 years war. What is the 30 years war you ask? It was a war that occurred in the 1600's in Europe between Protestants and Catholics. Why you would fight a war purely on disagreements in religion I have no clue. Anyhow, it does make for a good book. Where does the book get its name? Well, one of the main characters in the book, Gustavus, his nickname, in real life I might add, is The Lion of the North. What is the story line? Well, here it is...

Malcom Graheme was just a teenager of about 15 or 16 living in Scotland when the 30 years war broke out. He was recruited along with other Scots to go fight in the war against the Catholics. Just before he was recruited he had saved a couple of horseback riders from the strong currents of a seemingly slow river. The two men thought he was destined for greatness. Boy were they right!

At one point in the story Malcom found himself a prisoner of a band of Guerrillas. He was forced to cook for them and while he was there Malcom overheard their plans to capture a quiet and secluded village. After hearing this, he decided to attempt an escape and tell the village of their coming troubles. He successfully escaped and found himself in the village in no time. He warned them and then he was put in charge of defending the village. The Guerrillas were completely destroyed and the village went back to normal life. Malcom returned to his regiment and everyone was glad he was back.

About a year or two later, Malcom and some of his fellow soldiers came down with a serious disease and were told to choose a place to go to get better. Malcom thought that the village he had saved would be the perfect place. So they all went to the quiet village and recovered from their sickness. As they were getting ready to head back to the army, they received word that the city of Mansfeld was going to be attacked by the Catholics in the next day or two. Malcom decided to leave immediately and head for Mansfeld. He got there before the enemy did and successfully repelled them. While in Mansfeld he fell in love with the Count's, or Governor's daughter and she fell in love with him as well. But, as always, he had to leave to return to the army and she was in a very melancholy mood when he left.

I like this book because the main character, Malcom, is a very well written character and he grabs your attention. It would most definitely be a good book for people who like adventure, suspense, or history. So if you like any of those three things in a book, you should definitely look into getting it.       

A Few Ways to Save on Small Expenses

In this short paper I will talk about ways you can cut down on small expenses. Also I will give some of my personal experiences with money.

A few ways you can cut down on small expenses are;

• Budgeting
  I don't necessarily have a budget but I do put the money that I earn in different envelopes; spending, saving and tithing. This works really well for me. I put 60 to 70% of the money I earn in savings, 10% in tithing and the rest goes to spending.
• Carry less money on your person.
  This doesn't really help for those who only carry debit cards with them but for those who carry cash, like myself, this will limit the amount you can spend. Now if you're going out to buy a specific list of items, then you'll need enough cash for the things you're buying. But if your just in a store looking around, not suggesting you do this, but if you do, then don't carry as much with you. Not too long ago whenever I carried cash I felt like I had to spend it. But now I always carry a little bit of cash with me,without feeling like I have to spend it.
• Think about it before you buy.
  Even for just an iced tea at a gas station you should think about what you're buying. Think about if you really need this product or you just saw it and it was on sale, so you bought it. This “rule” is also for big items. One time I saw a really cool canvas picture that I really wanted. It was $40 and I didn't have enough money to buy it right then. My mom reminded me that my birthday was coming up so I waited. The day I received the money I went to buy the picture. I brought it home put it on the wall and boy did it look great! The next morning though I realized that I didn't really need it. Lucky for me I had saved the receipt and I brought the picture back. With that money I bought something that I needed a lot more than that picture. So think about it before you buy.

Thank you for reading this and I hope that this paper told you something about saving on small expenses.                                

The Mysteries of Bobby Tremain:

  A normal Colonial kid on the outside but a Detective on the inside                           

Story 2

“Hey Joan come here.”

“Yes?”

“Guess what!”

“What?”

“I've got a mystery on my hands!”

“Yeah right.”

“No, this is for real!”

“Okay, what's this mystery?”

“It all started yesterday. As usual I was walking home from school and all of the sudden a wagon wheel rolled right by me. Almost had me too. I stopped walking and then someone came running down screaming, “Get that wheel!” So I dropped my books and ran after it, I caught up to it and grabbed on to it with all my might. The man came running down and thanked me over and over again and said if he had money with him he'd pay me. I told that wasn't necessary and walked home. Well I got to thinkin' and wondered why he needed it so badly. So I went and asked him and he told me that his Grandfather had made it 65 years ago but he sounded really suspicious. So now I have “The Mystery of the Runaway Wheel.” Wanna help me solve the case?”

“Sure, I've got nothing else to do.”

“Yesss! Okay, where should we start?”

“I think we should read some of the recent Newspapers for any reported robberies.”

“That's a great idea! I think father saves all the newspapers he reads.”

So Joan and I read all the newspapers from the last month and found in one of them that there had been diamonds stolen from the Silversmith shop two and a half weeks ago. We kept this one as a clue and decided to examine the wheel right after the Blacksmith shop closed that night. Well we found out that the Blacksmith actually lives there so we weren't sure what to do. We decided, that since the next day was Saturday, we would stay around the Blacksmith shop the whole day, in turns of course. Joan had second shift and overheard the Blacksmith talking to someone about a wagon wheel that had almost got away. His friend said that it would be horrible to lose those diamonds. Joan wondered what this meant and ran off to tell me. I thought that maybe there could be diamonds in or on the wheel somewhere. She agreed with me and decided that we needed to get a good look at that wheel, but how? Then I remembered that Jimmy said his Uncle was a Blacksmith. Joan said that since I was sort of friends with Jimmy I could ask him to show me around his Uncle's Blacksmith shop. I thought that was the perfect plan. So I decided to ask him after Church the next day.

The next day after Church I went over to Jimmy's house and asked if I could join him in his game of jacks. He told me I could, so I sat down and went to work.

“I've taken an interest in being a Blacksmith.”

“Okay.”

“And I was wondering if you could show me around your Uncle's shop?”

“Okay, sure. When would you like me to take you?”

“How about finishing this game of jacks and then going?”

“Okay. Your turn.”

So we finished playing jacks and left for his Uncle's shop. First Jimmy introduced me to his Uncle and he told Jimmy that I was the one who caught that wheel for him. Jimmy told his Uncle that I was interested in becoming a Blacksmith and wanted to see his shop. He said it was all right for me to look around for a few minutes. So I walked around pretending to be amazed at the stuff he had made. After a minute or so I found the wheel and tried not to make it so obvious that I was interested in the wheel and not the shop. After looking at the wheel for a little bit I realized that the rim of the wheel was thicker than normal. A perfect place to hide, diamonds! I told them I needed to leave for home and I left. When I got home I told Joan what I had found.

“Joan guess what!”

“What did you find!?”

“Remember when Jimmy's Uncle told me to, “Get that wheel!”

“Yes, why?”

“Well, when I caught up to it I noticed that there was a rattling noise. When I examined the wheel today I noticed that the rim was thicker than normal, in conclusion I decided that it's the perfect place to hide, diamonds!

“So what you're telling me is, he stole the diamonds, put them inside of a hollow wheel rim, put it on the wheel and then somehow it rolled away. Then you ran after it because he was screaming, “Get that wheel!” You caught it and gave it back to him. Then when you asked him later why he needed it so badly he had to come up with a story to tell you. He came up with a story but sounded really suspicious when he told you. You saw right through it and now we've come to the conclusion that he stole the diamonds from the Silversmith shop, put them in the wheel to hide them but you found them.”

“Exactly! Do you think we should go tell the authorities?”

“Definitely.”

So the next day after school I went with Joan to the local authorities and told them the whole story, they were a little hesitant at first but decided to give it a try. They left and searched the Blacksmith shop, they found the wheel, examined and found what was definitely diamonds inside of the wheel rim. They arrested Jimmy's Uncle and thanked Joan and I for the help on this case. They even told us that we should be the ones to return the diamonds to the Silversmith!

After doing just that, we went home and told our family the whole story from beginning to end. Our Ma said that we should celebrate and we all agreed!

The End

The Mysteries of Bobby Tremain

A normal Colonial kid on the outside but a Detective on the inside

Story 1

The Indians were in full attack mode, muskets firing in all directions. My father and I were the only ones in our family who had a musket and we were trying to hold the Indians back as best we could. The rest of our family was in the wagon praying to God that He would help us through this. Just then I remembered that we had a whole keg of gun powder and if we set fire to that thing it would scatter the Indians in an instant. I asked my father about it and he felt it was a God send. So I left my father with the Indians and quickly gathered all the the items I would need to make the powder explode. I was back in a couple of minutes and set fire to the powder and hurled the keg as far as I could. Seconds later, just as I had predicted, it exploded into a million pieces and scattered the Indians almost immediately. That day we praised God for delivering us from those horrid Indians and in the morning we were back on our way to Boston.

I don't think I properly introduced myself, my name is Bobby Tremain and I have four sisters, Eliza, Sarah, Elsie, and my older sister Joan. We used to live on the frontier of the Ohio River Valley area but too many Indians drove us back to where I was born, Boston.

I'm 15 and still looking for some type of job. You wouldn't think that it would be that hard to find a job here, after all there are dozens of different jobs. From a Barber to a Blacksmith but I just can't find one. I think that being a Tanner would be a really good job for me to have. The Tanners work with leather and leather is SUPER important here in the American Colonies. Tanners make things from saddles to clothes and even buckets! So being a Tanner might be a really high paying and practical job.

Our house is just a normal saltbox house but I think it's the best on the block. Except for maybe Jimmy's house, which is made out of stone, God help me not to be jealous. What's a saltbox house you ask? Well it is definitely one of the most common types of houses here in the Colonies. The saltbox house is a building that is tall in front and slopes down as the house goes farther back. There is only one story in the back of the house but two stories in the front.

I still go to school, which is unusual, because a lot of boys stop going to school around the age of 13. But since I don't have a job yet and my father doesn't need help in his Grocery store, I'm still in school.

Oh! I almost forgot to tell you what happened after school today! I was just walking home as usual and all of the sudden a wagon wheel rolled across the street! It almost crushed me to pieces! Needless to say, I was pretty frightened and I stopped walking. It kept on rolling down the Lane and then someone came running after it screaming, “Get that wheel!” So I dropped my books and ran after it. I finally caught up to it and dove for it aaaand GOTCHA! I grabbed on to that thing as if I would die if I let go. The man came running down and thanked me and asked if I was alright. I said I had barely bruised myself and I'd be all right. Then he thanked me over and over again and said if he had some money he would pay me for what I did. I told him that wasn't necessary and walked back up to get my books. Now that I think about it, maybe I should be a professional wheel chaser. Nah! Wouldn't be a very high paying job. I wonder why he needed that wheel so badly? I think I'll go find him and ask. I never forget a face you know. Let's go find him.

Let's see I think I've seen him before at the Blacksmith shop, let's go there first. Ah! There he is,

“Sir.”

“Yes? Hey, are you the one who helped me catch that runaway wheel earlier today?”

“Yes sir, that would be me. Say, why did you need that wheel so badly anyway?”

“Oh, umm it was umm my umm my grandfathers wheel, yeah! And uhh he made it 65 years ago. Yep that's why.”

“Oh okay! I was just wondering why you needed it so badly.”

“Yep that would be why! See ya around.”

“Bye sir.”

Hmm that guy seemed a little suspicious to me. A mystery! “The Mystery of the Runaway Wheel!”

To be Continued...