The book that I read is called Pendragon by D.J. Machal. The three main characters in the book are Mark, Bobby and Courtney. Bobby loves his normal life, he does not want to have some kind of amazing ability. When Bobby first found out what he was, his first thought was “How am I going to get out of here?” not “How can I help?” Mark is really shy. When he talks to people who are not his friends he stutters in every sentence. Courtney is very competitive she is quite the opposite of Mark. At school they grabbed Courtney off the girl’s volleyball team and put her on the boy’s volleyball team because she was too good. There are two parts of the story’s setting, there are Bobby chapters and there are Mark and Courtney’s chapters. The setting in Bobby’s chapters is in the past in Durenderon, a far away land packed with monsters and all kinds of other weird things. Mark and Courtney’s chapters take place in the present with cars and cellphones.

The book is about how Bobby and his Uncle Press are travelers. There are a whole bunch of different territories and every  territory has a turning point. A turning point is when a territory has peace for ever or it is bad for ever. Travelers try to get the turning point to be piece but others don’t… Durenderon is at its turning point and the Migilo (who are little humans) are slaves to the Kagan Army (which are tall knights). They yanked Bobby away from his life at home so what they did was they let Bobby Write notes to his friend (Mark). Mark then  shares the notes with Courtney (Courtney is Bobby’s girlfriend) and they read Bobby’s stories. Bobby Really wants to go back to his home but he realized the Migilo need him and if he flies away  now he would kill them. To prove that he felt like he could go back the book says “I could have just left right then and there but I couldn’t, there were people depending on me”.

I enjoyed the book a lot because it did not wait a “century” to get to the plot so the whole time you want to know what happens next. I also liked the way they made the characters, because they did not make them cheesy, they made them normal. It felt like Bobby could actually be a person. I recommend this book for kids 9 and up because smaller kids would not understand the book. I also recommend this book to people who like fantasy because every single moment of the book is packed with fantasy. I rate the book 5 out of 5.                 

Alan Mendelsohn The Boy From Mars By Daniel M. Pinkwater

I read a book called Alan Mendelsohn The Boy From Mars by Daniel M. Pinkwater over spring break. Alan Mendelsohn The Boy From Mars  is about well, you guessed it Alan Mendelsohn a boy from Mars. It is told from the point of view of Leonard Neeble, Alan Mendelsohn’s best friend. My dad read this book when he was a kid. So, he found a copy on Ebay and bought it for me. I really enjoyed this book. Alan is weird for example, he says he is from Mars and there is what looks like an U.F.O. in his backyard. Leonard is just an average kid. He like reading comics and playing sports. This book takes place in Hogboro, a fictitious city.

Alan Mendelsohn and Leonard Neeble are both pretty smart. They are one of the very few people who can use mind control, and they have thought their way out of very sticky situations. The problem in this book is Alan and Leonard trying to figure out the secrets of mind control. There is one character who sort of helps them throughout the book and that is Samuel Klugarsh. Samuel Klugarsh is the creator of Klugarsh Mind Control  which is his “How To for mind control. Uncle Boris is Leonard’s uncle and this is how he describes Klugarsh, “ Samuel Klugarsh has always been regarded by some as a swindler. I myself have always thought of him as someone who sells people things they don’t really need for more money than they’re worth. If that’s your definition of a swindler, then he is one.”

I enjoyed this book because it is weird. There are aliens, and mind control. For example,  Alan and Leonard read Clarence Yojimbo’s Japanese to English Dictionary backwards, and find out that mind control is easier if you use metal. The main characters use mind control to cause mischief by making people take off their hats and rub their stomachs and doing a little jig.

 My favorite character is Alan Mendelsohn. Alan Mendelsohn claims  that he is from Mars. Alan is a genius, like if someone said “What does this word mean?” he would use the definition from the dictionary just by thinking about it. He is so smart that barely ever has homework.

Leonard Neeble was just a normal kid who had very few friends until Alan Mendelsohn moved to Hogboro. Alan started to make friends with Leonard. They buy a mind control set which works pretty well. They start using it after school at Alan’s house. Later in the book Alan starts acting weird. For example, he announces to the whole school that he is from Mars. Find out the rest in Alan Mendelsohn The Boy From Mars.

I would rate this book 10 stars out of 5. Once you read the first page you can’t put it down. I would recommend this book to people 7+.

The book I read recently is called Spy School by Stuart Gibbs. The book is about a kid named Ben Ripley who gets recruited to Spy School.  Ben is really smart. “I didn’t even have to think about it, I have a gift for mathematics” said Ben. Ben’s file says that he created something called pinwheel and an evil company wants whatever pinwheel is. The book takes place at Spy School, modern times. The school has modern technology, and better security than a lot of places. It has something like 400 security cameras all over campus. It is in Washington D.C.

Ben makes a new friend, Murray Hill. Murray is not his best friend at Spy School, but they have lunch and some classes together. But Ben considers Murray his friend. Murray has a secret he will not tell Ben. You’ll find out more later on in the book. The main problem in the book is that there is a mole from an evil company who is trying to capture Ben. My favorite part of the book is when Ben jabs a taser into a keypad and the electricity goes out. The reason he had to do that was because someone was coming for him and he didn’t want them to see him. I think the book was written very well.

I recommend this book to people that like action, mystery and adventure. I enjoyed this book it was really good because like. I rate it 6****** out of 5*****.

If you want to get the book click on the link below

http://stuartgibbs.com/books/

I recommend the book The Higher  Power of Lucky. It is about a girl, after her mom died after a storm. But her mom’s  husband is divorced with the mom and doesn’t want to take care of lucky. So the dad hires his wife from before named Brigítte to take care of lucky.

So Brigítte flies to Hardpan California. And in the time that the Brigítte is flying there a man called Old Sammy takes of lucky. So Brigítte get there and is taking care of lucky. But there is misunderstanding that makes Lucky have a stronger reaction than she should. at one point she her friend is doing something illegal,but it turns out to be a smart thing to do anyways.

So afterwards she thinks in her mind that if he runs for president she will tell everyone about that one incident.  But overall the book is about all the ups and downs of life in a small town in California.( she also happens to be fairly poor and live in a trailer.)

I would rate this book 4 stars out of 10 because it wasn’t very interesting (but I didn’t get any spoilers). But don’t get me wrong, if you like books that are about Realistic fiction then I recommend the book for you. ****

april 2 2014

Adventures According to Humphrey

Adventures According to Humphrey is by Betty G. Birney. Humphrey the hamster is the main character. Humphrey is nice, caring, thoughtful and a lot more. He is at a school. He is a classroom pet in room 26.

Humphrey is a hamster who is very caring so he likes to help his human friends out even when he did cause the child’s problems. For example, he helped Richie his classroom friend, by trying to stop him from breaking the rules when they went on a field trip you were not allowed to bring a remote control boat for the boat race. Richie did bring a remote control boat even though you were not allowed to. He went to Potters Pond a grassy area where they took their field trip. He also went into the library and

accidently pressed a button and a strange pirate movie came up. Also he went to his classroom friends house and he thought they were going to paint him. A j, a classroom friend, bellowed ,“You have to be quiet in the library”.

This book is one of my favorites actually there is a  whole series of them. It has lots of funny parts and you just want to keep on reading it. I would recommend this book to 3rd through 5th grade because it is not too long but not too short I think it is a fabulous book. The book has 118 pages. I would rate this book 5 stars***** out of 5.