Bartimaeus the Golems Eye

Bartimaeus the Golem’s Eye by Jonathan Stroud

Warning! Do not read this review unless you have read Bartimaeus the Amulet of Samarkand!

 

Bartimaeus the Golem’s Eye is by Jonathan Stroud. The main characters are Nathaniel (also called John Mandrake), Kitty Jones, and Bartimaeus the djinni. Nathaniel is very powerful and a bit arrogant. Kitty Jones is very rebellious and joined the resistance, an organization made to rebel against the magicians. Bartimaeus is a trickster and has a big mouth. This book takes place in London and Prague. It takes place in about 1980.

 

Nathaniel is the assistant head of Internal Affairs in the government. There is a Golem (a mythical demon) lurking around London and they have to find it. He also needs to find Kitty and the resistance before they cause any more trouble. Bartimaeus is bound to Nathaniel’s word. Kitty has a score to settle with head of internal affairs Mr. Julius Tallow. “Mr. Tallow wrecked my life! I will get him soon,” said Kitty. In this book, It rotates the prospective, but it is random whether it is Kitty, Bartimaeus or Nathaniel.

 

I loved this book because the writing was very descriptive, the characters were interesting, and it kept you on your toes. I would recommend this to people who like action and imgresviolence. There is a lot of that in this book! I would rate this book four stars! It was very good.

 

Bartimaeus the Amulet of Samarkand by Jonathan Stroud

Bartimaeus the Amulet of Samarkand is by Jonathan Stroud. The main characters are Bartimaeus, the big mouthed powerful fourth-level djinni, and Nathaniel, the full-of-potential nobel magician. Nathaniel will always admit something that will get him into some trouble.This amazing book takes place in London in 1985ish.

 

The power crazy Simon Lovelace wants to kill all the magicians of the ministry and start over with “more powerful” magicians; “Will you join us?” Maurice Schyler said “We can start over and form a powerful government.” “You are a Naive fool! I will never join you!” I said with great power. With a scowl Maurice Schyler said, “Very well then, ordinarily I would enjoy killing you slowly, but today I can’t spare the time.”  To do this, Simon Lovelace steals the Amulet of Samarkand to gain power.  Also, there is a shady group tied into it called “The Resistance” who are a group of commoners (non magicians) who don’t think that the magicians should rule, and they cause some trouble also.

 

I loved this book! The writing is really good, for example, “Jabor’s laugh was cut short by the roof caving in below him.” I like that kind of writing because it is a kind of “Show not Tell” that I enjoy reading. I would recommend this book to people who like a lot of Dystopian Fantasy kind of things. I would also recommend it to people who like a lot of violence. So if your parents won’t let you read Divergent, this is a book for you. I would rate this book five out of five stars! It was incredible!  The writer has a really good way of having a lot of loose ends and at the last second, everything comes together and the whole book makes sense!

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Game of Clones by M.E. Castle

WARNING: DO NOT READ THIS UNLESS YOU HAVE READ THE FIRST TWO BOOKS!

This book is called Game of Clones by M.E. Castle. The main character is Fisher Bas and he has a clone who is named Two/Alec. Fisher is a science geek and isn’t very good with communicating with other people. This book takes place in Palo Alto California.

Fisher’s problem is that there is a third clone who is evil called “Three”. They have to figure out his evil plans and stop him. To do this, they have to battle a “jellyfish car machine,”  escape a collapsing library, and fight off an army of robots! “Come on! We have to follow the robot to find Three’s plans!”233

I enjoyed this book very much! This book was good for me because I like the characters and the plot is interesting because it kept you on your toes. My favorite part was when Alec/Two figured out how Three was doing  I would recommend this book to people who like adventure… (and have read the first two books.) I would rate this book 5 stars!(P.S., this book is the 3rd in a growing series.)

 

Better Nate Than Ever By Tim Federle

    This book is called Better Nate Than Ever by Tim Federle. The main character is Nate (Nathan), who is short and small with a horrible home where he’d be fine being anywhere but his home with his family. The setting of this book is in modern times so about 2013, in Pennsylvania and New York.

 

    Nate wants to run away from home to go on Broadway because his parents are horrible and the don’t care about him at all. His best friend Libby Marshall helps him with training for Broadway. When he gets to New York, he realizes that he is homeless, but out of the blue comes Aunt Heidi, his mother’s long lost sister, who had had a big fight with his mother and had run off to New York. When Nate needs someone to vouch for him she comes and vouches for him.

 

    I enjoyed this book because I liked the characters. I liked the characters because they were funny and complicated. I would recommend this book to people who like acting and to see personal problems resolved because that happens a lot in this book. I would rate this book 3 out of 5 stars because it wasn’t has hooking as some other books I have read.


Genius Files; From Texas With Love By Dan Gutman

(WARNING! DO NOT READ THIS IF YOU HAVE NOT READ AND FINISHED MISSION UNSTOPPABLE, NEVER SAY GENIUS, AND YOU ONLY DIE TWICE.)

 

From Texas with Love is about two thirteen year old kids named Coke and Pepsi Macdonald. They are at the mercy of the insane Dr. Warsaw. He has some henchman: The “Bowler dudes”, two not so smart brothers in bowler hats, and Mrs. Higgins, their evil health teacher who is in love with Dr. Warsaw.

This book is part of a still growing series and is the 4th one.

When they see Dr. Warsaw in Hot Springs spa, he has a breakdown and can’t bring himself to kill them but shortly afterward someone, sends them a cipher and Coke and Pep,(Pepsi) realize that he isn’t done. Who could be sending them a Cipher now?

I liked this book because it was very action packed. In every chapter besides the very beginning, someone tries to kill them in a different way.

I would recommend this to people who like twists, problem solving, action, and memorizing lots and lots of absolutely useless information!

I would give this book 5 out of 5 stars!

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Cloneward Bound By M.E. Castle

WARNING! DO NOT READ THIS REVIEW IF YOU HAVE NOT READ POPULAR CLONETHIS MEANS YOU!

            Cloneward Bound is by M.E. Castle. When Fisher Bas the main character finds out that Two (his clone) was not killed in the explosion at TechX labs, but escaped and is now living the sweet life in Hollywood, Fisher luckily finds out that a field trip is going to Hollywood over the weekend.

            Anxious to find Two, excited to meet the famous Doctor Devilish the host of “Strange Science” the TV show and worried that government agents will try to get Two because they suspect that he is a clone and that Fisher used AGH (Accelerated Growth Hormone). The problem is, when he finds Two, Two doesn’t want to go back to Palo Alto.

            When he finds out that his crush Veronica Greenwich is in love with the cheesy pop singer Kevin Keels, he goes crazy. With friends, Fisher decides it is time to learn the truth of who is playing with them.

             My favorite part of this book was when Amanda Cantrell finds out that Two is a clone. Actually, that was my second favorite part. My favorite part is a spoiler so I won’t tell you. Read the Book!

             I would rate this book 4 out of 5 stars.

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Popular Clone By M.E. Castle

Popular Clone is about a boy named Fisher Bas. He is very unpopular. He is bullied by three kids called “the Vikings.”  When he makes a clone (which he calls “Two”) to live is horrible life for him, Two becomes popular. He starts causing trouble. Fisher is afraid that someone will find out that Two is a clone.

To make the clone,  Fisher used his mother’s very dangerous AGH (Accelerated Growth Hormone). The evil Doctor X is trying to find it. If he finds out that “Fisher” is a clone, he will take over the world. When Doctor X captures Two, Fisher must go on a dangerous adventure with his loyal pet flying pig to save him. Can Fisher keep  the secret away from Two, that he is not a clone, but his brother on a mission to find his mother. AND save Two?

I liked this book because it was really funny and the characters were interesting. My favorite part was when Fisher tried to find out what Two was doing at school. I liked that part because we learn how Two becomes popular, because Fisher didn’t know what was happening with Two at school.

This book is in a series called “The Cloneward Chronicles.”

I would rate this book 5 out of 5 stars.

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Athlete vs. Mathlete by W.C. Mack

Athlete vs. Mathlete by  W.C. Mack

Review by Elijah Meltzer

Athlete vs. Mathlete is by W.C. Mack and is about two boys named Owen Evans, (“Basketball superstar, lights up the scoreboards”) and Russell Evans (“Brainiac powerhouse, lights up the school boards.”). This book takes place in Portland Oregon in about 2008. About

midway through the book Russell is forced by the new coach to play for the pioneers the school basketball team, because he is tall. He becomes a superstar and takes Owen’s place! Owen gets really mad and does some mean things. I enjoyed this book a lot because I could really sense what the characters were feeling.

My favorite part of the book was when Owen gives a play by play of his basketball games because I like basketball so I really get to know what is going on and how he is feeling.  For example, “When the ball was tossed, I went for it.  My fingers touched it first, and I pushed the ball toward Nicky Chu.  He caught it and pivoted fast before passing it to Nate James. Nate was the fastest guy on the pioneers, and made a breakaway, dribbling toward the basket. Right when he got to the hoop, he looked left then passed to me. As soon as I got the ball I lined up and took the shot. Swish!” (W.C. Mack, pg. 22-23).

 

I would recommend this book to people that like basketball, problem solving or friendship problems. Because all of those things come up a lot in this book.

 

I would rate this book 4 out of 5 stars.

The Mother Daughter Book Club By Heather Vogel Frederick

Mother Daughter Book Club Review

By Elijah Meltzer

The Mother Daughter Book Club is by Heather Vogel Frederick, and has four main characters, Emma Hawthorne, Megan Wong, Cassidy Sloane, and Jess Delaney. It takes place in Concord Massachusetts. The book is in a series of four, in each book one of the characters has a big problem, other characters get problems too, but one has the boss problem and in this it’s Jess. I enjoyed this book very much.

My favorite part is when Emma stands up to Becca Chadwick the bully because Emma never stands up for herself. My other favorite part is when Megan stops being friends with Becca and becomes a friend with Cassidy, Emma, and Jess. I like them because that was exactly the opposite of the characters personality.

I would recommend this book for people who appreciate good writing because the writing is fantastic!

The book switches point of view every chapter and the point of view can only be Cassidy, Megan, Jess, or Emma.

I would rate this book five out of five stars!

The Forgotten Door, Alexander Key

The forgotten door by Alexander Key,is in my opinion a fairly good book. The main character Little Jon fell through a portal that had been closed for many years. He meets the Bean family who helps him and doesn’t give up. The setting of the book is in New York at about 1960. Throughout the book, the Bean family finds out some secrets about where Little Jon come from and what he can do.

My favorite part of the book is when Jon goes to court because I find it interesting when people find secrets.

I would recommend this book to people who like suspense and mystery with a little history.

I would rate this book 4 out of 5 stars.