Peter Nimble and His Fantastic Eyes

 

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Over the summer I read a book called, Peter Nimble and His Fantastic Eyes, by Jonathan Auxier. This book takes place in The Vanished Kingdom. The Vanished Kingdom is a hidden palace in the middle of a prison called The Just Deserts. Peter Nimble, the main character, is an orphan thief who is blind. He is a really good thief because all of his other senses are stronger. People also don’t suspect him as a thief because of his handicap. One day Peter steals a box. The box contains three pairs of magical eyes. One pair is emerald, one pair is onyx, and the last pair is golden. The golden eyes send Peter to the last place they saw. The onyx eyes turn Peter into the last animal he touched. The emerald pair…I can not reveal.

The novel is about his journey to The Vanished Kingdom. On his travels, he meets Sir Tode. Sir Tode is a mix between a knight, a cat, and a horse. “I am a human knight ,  Sir Tode corrected,  who has been trapped inside the body of a cat… and a horse.” Together they battle to save the slaves and defeat the evil king of The Vanished Kingdom.

Peter  and Sir Tode find themselves in a lot of dangerous situations.  Peter is an amazing lock pick. He once picked 12 locks within an hour. “It took the better part of an hour for Peter to pick the locks on the Haberdashers carriage.” He uses this skill to take down the king.

This book was really surprising and suspenseful. It had action, and a little bit of mystery. I would recommend this book to ages 9+. People who like fantasy will love Peter Nimble and His Fantastic Eyes. I would rate this book 10 stars. I hope Jonathan Auxier writes another one.

The Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman

The Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman

Book review by Jack Lille Yerington

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The book I have been reading is called The Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman. The main character’s name is Nobody Owens (Bod for short). This book shows Bod’s life from when he was just a couple months old to when he is eight (so far).The setting of the book is the graveyard. He is living in the graveyard because his parents were killed by an assassin named Jack. He is being hidden by Silas (his guardian) and his adopted parents Mr. and Mrs. Owens. Bod can do something unique, he can see ghosts and everything dead. Every chapter of The Graveyard Book is a cliffhanger. Bod is curious, which leads to problems. For example, once he took his friend into a cave, and then almost died in the cave.

Bod has a lot of adventures in this book. Once, he noticed  some ghouls in the graveyard and they started talking to him. They talked for a little while and they finally persuaded him into going to Ghûlheim. Ghûlheim is where all kinds of creatures live, the ghouls live there, Night-Gaunts live there, Hellhounds live there, and much more. Bod was taken by the ghouls and put into a sack. He found a screw in the sack and started poking a hole in the sack. A Hellhound attacked the bag and Bod fell out. He was almost killed by the Hellhound but, he cried help in Night-Gaunt and was saved by one.

 

As I said earlier, Bod took his friend Scarlett into a cave, they were gone for a long time. Bod’s friend’s parents got worried and called the police. When she and Bod came out they were very relieved, however, they wouldn’t let her go to the graveyard again. She was allowed to go back to the graveyard one more time to say goodbye because she was moving. The last time she saw Bod Bod asked, “Go where?” Scarlett answered, “Scotland. There’s a university there. For Dad to teach particle physics.” Scarlett didn’t want to say goodbye to Bod but she had to.

I enjoyed this book because it was suspenseful. This book has ghosts and ghouls and more creatures, and I love that. It also has mystery which I really like. I would recommend this book to kids who are in 3rd grade and up. I would also recommend this book to kids who love mystery. I would give this book

 

Alan Mendelsohn The Boy From Mars By Daniel M. Pinkwater

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 Real Boy by Anne Ursu

The Real Boy by Anne Ursu

The Real Boy - Front Jacket - 2-13I thought The Real Boy was a great book. I had a couple of favorite things about this book. Not only was it well written but it was adventurous, exciting, and a bit mysterious.

My favorite character in The Real Boy was Cat. You guessed it, Cat is a cat. She is brave like when she was fighting a mud monster she kept on fighting to protect Oscar, who is the main character. Cat was buried under piles and piles of dirt, rock, and mud in that fight. When Oscar was digging her out she told him (Oscar can understand cats) to go help Crow (another cat) who had broken her legs.

 This book takes place in Alethia, a land where you can’t use magic, except for The Barrow. The Barrow is where Oscar lives. Caleb is a magic smith, Wolf is Caleb’s apprentice, and Oscar is Caleb’s hand. Oscar lives in the basement of Caleb’s shop with his three cats. He chops herbs and puts them into medicine.

Oscar is Master Caleb’s hand, but when Master Caleb leaves his shop to his apprentice Wolf things go bad. Wolf goes into the forest for what should be only a couple hours and leaves Oscar in charge of the shop, but when Wolf has been in the forest for almost 6 hours Oscar worries that something has happened to Wolf…

to be continued…

I would recommend this book to kids 8+. I would give this book 5 stars.

P.S. I know what you’re thinking “If this book is called The Real Boy does that mean I’m a fake boy/girl” no it doesn’t mean you’re a fake boy/girl it means that in the book he is a real boy.

Secrets of Shakespeare’s Grave by Deron R. Hicks

by Jack

What I liked about Secrets of Shakespeare’s Grave was that it was a mystery. I liked that when I thought something good was going to happen it didn’t.

 

I thought this book was really well written and I enjoyed it.

 

My favorite character in Secrets of Shakespeare’s Grave was Julian Letterford. I liked him because he started the whole mystery, and he would quote Shakespeare in parts of the book. He was smart, and funny, and really nice in the book.

 

I would give this book four out of five stars because it was a really good book, but the book could’ve used a couple more pictures and a little more action.

 

I am excited to read the second book because the first book was really exciting and that the first book left me at a huge cliffhanger.

 

Secrets of Shakespeare’s Grave takes place in Manchester, Georgia and England and Stratford upon-Avon. This book is exciting, and mysterious! I would recommend this book to kids from ages 8+.