Category Archives: Magical Realism

Apr
04
2014

The Cavendish Home for Boys and Girls by Claire Legrand

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This book is called The Cavendish Home for Boys and Girls by Claire Legrand. The main character is a girl named Victoria Wright. Victoria is an A student and always is a good girl until one day when she gets a B in music and gets really upset. The setting of this book is in the Cavendish Home for Boys and Girls which is the scariest Home ever.  It’s scary because crazy magical things happen.It takes placein the present.10893214

 

One day Victoria woke up perfectly normally and walked to her only friend’s house as usual. Her only friend is Lawrence Prewitt and all he does is play the piano really well. She rang the doorbell but nobody answered. After a while his parent came and she shivered (that has been happening a lot) and they looked normal but didn’t seem normal and Victoria couldn’t find what was wrong. Lawrence was apparently “at his grandmother’s house” but Victoria didn’t believe her. She found out that he was at the Cavendish Home. When she met with Mrs. Cavendish for the first time and found out that she was really nice. But on her second meet with her she saw Mr. Alice first. This part was a little creepy because Mr. Alice said at the end of the chapter on her second meeting with Mrs. Cavendish, “She has been waiting for you.” All different creepy things have been happening like she saw feelers coming out when she least expected it. Victoria is trying to get Lawrence out of the Cavendish home.

 

I thought this book was scary mostly because of the things Mrs. Cavendish was doing.  She was trying to avoid Victoria getting Lawrence out of the home.I recommend this book to people who like creepy books. I rate this book 3-4 stars because it wasn’t my favorite book ever and I don’t usually read creepy mystery books.

 

Mar
04
2014

The Real Boy by, Anne Ursu

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The Real Boy was a awesome book it had a lot of fantasy mixed in with some magic spells and battles.

 

The book is about a boy named Oscar who is working for a master magician named Caleb. Caleb leaves to go to the continent a meeting I guese  and leaves Oscar in charge. Oscar does not know how to communicate because he has lived in the cellar for all his life making potions and collecting herbs so he has trouble running the shop. After a while kids start getting sick. Oscar starts freaking out because it is a magic town and they are not suppose to be sick. Will Oscar cure them and save the town or will he fail at saving the kids and the whole Barrow.

 

This book was a great book I loved it. Some parts were sad and I wanted to cry but sometimes I would be on my tippy toes because it was exciting

My favorite part was when Oscar did not know how to speak to the towns people and it was funny because he was kind of weird at that part.

 

I would rate this book 1 million stars out of 5. It was great in and out when I closed the book I felt like I was going to cry.

I would recommend this for kids who are into fantasy and magic and monsters and battles.images

Feb
28
2014

Finally by Wendy Mass

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Finally

Finally

by Wendy Mass

 

My book is called Finally by Wendy Mass. The main character is named Rory. She is 11 years old and it is about her and all the things she does when she turns 12. Rory is shy because she does not have the nerve to talk to people. She is also very brave. She is brave because of all the things that happen to her in the story. She lives in Willow Falls.

 

Rory has some major problems. So she has wanted to do some things all of her life, like get her ears pierced, and get a pet. Well those things don’t turn out so well.. You might think, “Oh getting a pet won’t be so hard, right?” Well, not according to Rory. Like when she was getting her ears pierced the lady said the earrings were hypoallergenic, but no, since you find out that she has a lot of reactions. The reaction is that her ear puffs up like a baby elephant.

 

I liked the book because it was funny. There were a lot of funny parts, including all of the times where something bad happens to her. Like when she gets her bunny, he is evil. An example of when Rory’s bunny is bad is when the bunny tries to kill her.   I would recommend this book to someone who likes books that are funny and mysterious. I would rate this book 4 ½ stars.

Feb
28
2014

Toys Come Home by Emily Jenkins

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Toys Come Home is about a girl who has a lot of stuffed animals. In the book it does not say what the girl’s name is and it just says ‘the girl’. When the girl is not Unknowninside the room all the stuffed animals come to life and their names are stingray that is a stingray, bobby dot that is a seal, sheep that is a sheep ,rocking horse that is a rocking horse and tuck tuck which is a towel but she needs to stay in the bathroom. The stuffed animals can talk and play games and do lots of things. The stuffed animals don’t get to go outside and they just stay home all day in the girls room. There are lots of other characters that come in the book that I did not introduce yet but I will soon.

When it is the girl’s birthday that is when stingray comes to the girls house. Stingray got shipped in a little box and stingray was the girl’s birthday gift. When the girl brings stingray into the room all the stuffed animals stare at her and when the girl leaves the stuffed animals start to be mean to her. When it is night time stingray does not have anywhere to sleep so she just sleeps on the window sill. Soon the girl’s dad dries bobby dot in the dryer and bobby dot was not supposed to be dried so when he comes out of the dryer he is shredded into pieces. So the next day the girl brings Stingray to the toy shop to get a new bobby dot, but the girl does not seem to like him so much so the day after that she brings Stingray again to the toy shop and exchanges the seal with a bull. The bull is named Lumpy. Stingray and Lumpy make friends and now Stingray has a friend to play with. When the girl has her birthday party her parents think she is old enough to have a bowling party so the girl has a bowling party. One of the girls friend gives her a Plastic ball and the girl named it plastic and then Stingray, Lumpy and plastic all make friends. Stingray, Lumpy and Plastic also really like playing hungry hippos and Stingray says “More hippos are the best.” But Plastic thinks that her hippo was full of marbles nine hours ago and she doesn’t understand that you try to get the most marbles.

I really enjoyed this book because it is interesting how Lumpy Stingray and Plastic all make friends and it is exciting how all the stuffed animals can come to life. I would recommend this book because it is exciting and you want to know what is going to happen next. I would give this a five star rating out of five stars.

 

                                              review by Olivia Im Propp

 

 

Feb
27
2014

Ranger’s Apprentice Kings Of Clonmel By John Flanagan

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John Flanagan Ranger’s Apprentice series is a good book. Since I am on Kings Of Clonmel. I will tell you a blurb of that. In Kings Of Clonmel, Horace Halt And Will travel to Clonmel in Hibernia where the failing king, Lord Ferris, is having a weak hold on his country.

 

For instance, raiding parties have been pillaging villages while the king does nothing. The people of Clonmel are furious. So, a group called the Outsiders, protect any village who pays for their service. But maybe there is a dark side to this mysterious group…

 

Horace is the former apprentice to Sir Rodney the knight and Horace is now an official knight, too. Horace is also Will’s best friend as shown in the past books two – seven.

 

Halt is Will’s former mentor and friend. He is an old, greybeard ranger who has a very sad life. Who, surprisingly, brings joy to Will and his friends. Halt is usually sad because he has never found a spouse until now…..

 

Will, is the biggest character in the series because he is in every single book. He also has a close friendship with Horace and Halt. He is an orphan whose dad died in a battle against fearsome creatures. Will is very kind and pleasant. People seem to be happy when Will is around. Will is also very funny. He even made a parody of a song called Old Man Joe and turned it into Old Greybeard Halt, His mentor!

 

The whole thing is set in a fantasy world but Of all the places in it, there is Hibernia, Araluen, Skandia, Genovia, Arrida, Celtica, Picta, Eastern Steppes, Nih-Hon-Ja, Gallica, Toscana, Iberian, Sonderland, Aslavia. Those are all the places.

 

Horace, Halt, and Will, travel to Clonmel and try to sort out Ferris’s problem with bandits and the Outsiders. They scavenge around the countryside for information. Will stalks the bandits and follows the Outsiders. Halt gets a prisoner bandit to pretend to be him. And so on.

 

I enjoyed this book very much. Because it has a lot of information that is exceptionally interesting because of all the mystery and medieval fantasy involved. I would recommend this book for people who surprisingly, don’t like fantasy because I assure you that once you read this series, you will love fantasy like never before.

I would rate this book and the whole series 5 out of 5 stars.

 

This series is amazing, period.

•Also, if you don’t know what an apprentice is, it’s a student learning to enhance a specific craft or skill.

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Jan
29
2014

Chitty Chitty Bang Bang by Ian Fleming.

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chitty chitty bang bang by Ian Fleming (who also wrote the James Bond series) is a book about a magical car and it’s adventures and it is excellent. chitty chitty bang bang is set in England and France. the main characters are Mimsie Caractacus Jeremy and Jemima Pots a poor-ish family who make millions on an invention. when they get the money they buy a car and fix it up then they go on an adventure. They’re in France they run into some trouble. there is also a recipe  surprise at the end, if you have the right edition. I give this book ***** five stars.photo

 

Jan
29
2014

A Tale Dark And Grimm By Adam Gidwitz

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This book is a horror/humor themed novel. I usually do not like horror and humor together but I think that this book changed my mind. This book is about Hansel and Gretel. All of you probably know about Hansel and Gretel and their cheesy little witch story. but this book shows the original, grimm, tale. Not only does it show you the witch story but it also shows you a bunch of other horrifying, eye-popping, tales. I would recommend this book to people who don’t feel queasy when they read about blood and people who do not get scared easily because as said before, this book is pretty scary (not to me but probably to some people in the grade.) I would rate this book 5 out of 10 stars because I really think that this book did not get the most appealing introduction and ending. But what I really do love about this book is all of the fantasy and adventure in between the horror and humor. The last story about a dragon seemed the most upbeat but if you want to know what it was you’ll have to read the book to find out.

Jan
29
2014

The Real Boy by Anne Ursu

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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.

Jan
08
2014

A Wrinkle In Time by Madeleine L’Engle

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A Wrinkle in Time by Madeleine L’Engle is a book about a girl, Meg, who doesn’t really fit in with all the other kids. One night she cannot fall asleep because of a hurricane and goes downstairs and finds her little brother Charles Wallace. Charles Wallace knows everything about everything and was expecting Meg to want hot cocoa. Meg actually did want hot cocoa. Their mother Mrs. Murry woke up, also wanting hot cocoa. The twins stayed asleep. All three of them had sandwiches and after a while, a visitor arrived, Mrs. Whatsit. Mrs. Whatsit lives in “the haunted house” in the woods.

 

Charles Wallace, Meg, and their dog, Fortinbras go into the woods to see Mrs. Whatsit the next day. Suddenly they find a boy who’s name is Calvin. Calvin is a couple of grades above Meg. He is on the high school basketball team. They all introduced themselves and headed towards the house. Charles Wallace knocked on the door. A woman named Mrs. Who was knitting on a rocking chair inside the house. Mrs. Who is a friend of Mrs. Whatsit. They live together. Mrs. Who can only speak in quotes because it is too hard for her to verbalize her thoughts. Mrs. Whatsit wasn’t there so Calvin, Meg, and Charles Wallace went home.

 

Calvin stayed over for dinner. After dinner, Calvin took Meg on a walk and in the middle of the walk, Charles Wallace appears and says, “we’re going.” Meg, Charles Wallace, and Calvin head to the house in the woods. (Charles Wallace thinks that they’re going to find their father). When Meg, Charles Wallace, and Calvin are walking to Mrs. Whatsit’s house they find Mrs. Whatsit, Mrs. Who and a little silver shimmer in the air. The little shimmer start’s to talk, “ Alll rrightt, girrllss. Thiss iss nno ttime forr bbickkerring.” Charles Wallace says to Meg and Calvin, “That’s Mrs. Witch.”

 

That’s all I’m going to tell you because after that comes the part where you don’t want to put the book down. I loved this book because during a few of the chapters I couldn’t put the book down. When I stopped reading, I felt dizzy.

 

My favorite part of the book was when Meg, Charles Wallace, Calvin, Mrs. Whatsit, Mrs. Who, and Mrs. Witch all travel to a woman named Medium. And as they’re approaching Medium’s house, Mrs. Witch says “WWEE ARE HERE!”. I like that part because it is a little funny. (You will understand it if you read the book.)

 

I would recommend this book to people who like books that you can really get into because when I was reading it I literally could not put the book down. I would also recommend this book to people who like to read a book and want to be surprised because trust me, there are a lot of surprises. Lastly, I would recommend this book to people who like fantasy that is kind of realistic because the characters are easy to understand but what happens to them is fantasy. I think that ages 9+ should read this book. If you have read When You Reach Me you will love this book.

 

I would rate this book five stars!

 

Jan
08
2014

Frogged

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Frogged

By Colette Leong

The book I read over the weekend is called Frogged, and the author of Frogged is named Vivian Vande Velde. The main character, Igmone, Princess Igmone. Igmone lives in a castle with her mother, father and her younger brother. Her mother told Igmone to read a book called “The Art Of Being A Princess,” before her thirteenth birthday, so she can be a real polite princess.

Igmone goes to one of her favorite places of the courtyard. Igmone meets a frog prince by the pond. The frog prince is really a poor boy who lives on the streets, The boy Igmone left food for, who she felt bad for. But he is just not very nice person. Igmone thought she was just helping him but Igmone, herself got turned into a frog in the boys place. Later on, Igmone met some teenagers in a barn. They’re names are Lulla and Bertie. Lulla, an farmer.Bertie, an actor. Lulla and Bertie capture Igmone and She goes on an adventure with Lulla and Bertie.

If you read this book you will find out what happens out later in this book.I rate Frogged  **** four stars. Frogged is funny and surprising and I hope you think so too!