Category Archives: Mystery

Genre

Apr
13
2014

Spy School by Stuart Gibbs

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This book is about a kid named Ben Ripley. He is in 5th grade. He is very smart but has a life that is filled with boringness and no enthusiasm. Alexander Hale opens the door to Ben’s life and offers him the key to adventure, action and most important to an enthusiastic fulfilling life.

“Thus, a mere twenty-three minutes after my arrival at spy school, I had learned something extremely important about it: it was not going to be easy.” (p.30)

 

Spy School is a book filled with tons of action, but this action is all about smarts. If you’re on grade 16 in math and you check the spy school website I am sure you will qualify for the school. Spy School is covered as a “Science School“.

Part of the expectation from the school  is to be ready for everything… EVERYTHING.

 

My favorite part of the book was when Ben arrived at the school because: When Ben meets his first friends and enemies trouble awaits. When Ben arrives at Spy School the action kicks in and from there on the book pulls you in by each word.

Ben is in love with a girl named Elizabeth Pasternak. But when Ben goes to spy school he is in for a treat. Spy school is a great book to read for people who like action, adventure and a little bit of mystery.

Wyatt recommended this book to me, and I am recommending it to people who have the interests of the subjects above.

 

Spy training.

Protective spys.

Young spys

 

Secret information.

Covert operation.

Handy training.

Old school cover as science school.

Opertive.

Little people.

This book is definitely 5stars because it has everything you want in an action adventure book. By the way if you do not have a book to read ask Wyatt and I swear you will love the books he will recommend!

 

Apr
08
2014

The Humming Room

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The Humming Room by Ellen Potter.The main character is named Roo. She’s a thief that steals but is also very nice and shy. Roo is a loner she never really meets anyone. So she doesn’t trust people very much until she gets to know them. The setting is an interesting village which is pretty strange.

 

Roo then meets a girl her age – I think she’s named Violet. Violet  try to make Roo clean and giving her food. Roo’s problem  is a mystery with Violet. Theres also a ghost story that I think is interesting. Also when Roo meets Violet. Roo Said  “no” to Violet  when she’s meeting Violet.

 

I really enjoyed this book because Roo’s personality fascinates me. If you have ever read The Secret Garden and liked it you would like this book. I recommend this book to for 3rd to 5th graders.I rate this book   stars.

 

Apr
08
2014

The Titan’s Curse by Rick Riordan

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WARNING!!!! DO NOT READ THIS REVIEW UNLESS YOU ARE NOT PLANNING TO READ THE OLYMPIANS SERIES OR ARE ON THE FIRST OR SECOND BOOK!!!!

imgresThe Titan’s Curse by Rick Riordan is in my favorite series of all time, The Olympians Series! The main characters are: Percy Jackson son of Poseidon, Grover Underwood the satyr, Annabeth Chase daughter of Athena, Thalia Grace daughter of Zeus, and Bianca and Nico di Angelo. The setting is Camp Half Blood. And everywhere they go on the quest.

Percy is in the car with Annabeth and Thalia, and of course his mom is telling embarrassing stories from when he was a baby. Anyway, Percy, Annabeth, and Thalia are on their way to a military school called Westover Hall because Grover told them that he found two half-bloods. (Half Greek God half human). When Percy finally finds the two di Angelo kids, they are gone and so are his friends.

My favorite part of the book is when Percy, Annabeth, Thalia, Grover, and Zöe are a the Hoover Dam and Percy, Annabeth, Thalia, and Grover are saying, “ I’m going to buy some Dam french fries. And I’m going to use the Dam bathroom! Ha ha ha ha ha ha ha!” And Zöe talks in thou thee language and she doesn’t get it.

To find out what happens next, READ THE BOOK!!!! I  DARE YOU!!!!(I recommend reading the first and second book before this…)

I recommend this book to people who like to get sucked into books, magical realism, realistic fiction, action, and adventure. I rate this book (100 stars)  but I can only do  so that will do.

Apr
08
2014

UNWANTEDS: Island of silence by Lisa McMann

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Unwanteds: Island of Silence is a series of three books about a boy named Alex Stowe and his twin brother, Aaron Stowe.One year ago Alex was purged, the purge is when 12 year olds get sorted into groups of Unwanteds,Wanteds and Necessaries. Unwanteds are13406329 kids who are creative and think outside the box. Necessaries are kids that could have been Unwanteds, but had a certain skill for farming or cleaning so they were kept to do the dirty work for the wanteds. The Wanteds are the kids who stay inside the box and listen to the rules, and never question the authority.

 

Now that they have changed the rules completely, since governor Haluki became is in charge, the gate between the Wanteds and the Unwanteds are down and now the Necessaries are coming over to Artime. Where all the Unwanted lived over the years, for the life they never got to live. Now the Wanteds spoiled life gets snatched out of their hands and they have become restless with anger, as they put through the test of survivor. When they ask Governor Haluk why they are not getting food, his response is to go pick your own food. The Wanteds are not happy and they’re taking dramatic actions! But I guess, that “drastic times calls for drastic measures.”

 

During this crisis, Alex is facing new problems other than his brother. When two teenagers appear, with orange eyes, Alex is thrown into a maze of finding who these teenagers are and protecting Artime. My favorite quote is when Alex and Lani starts to smile and then Lani asks him why they are smiling and he says” We are awesome” (p.178).

 

I really enjoyed this book because it had magical realism in it, for example they live on an island but they have magic spells. I would recommend this book to somebody who likes either Hunger Games or Harry Potter or books in that genre. I would say this is 4.

 

Apr
08
2014

The Year Of The Dog

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    This book is called The Year Of The Dog and the author’s name is Grace Lin, I have a lot of her books and I have picture books of hers too. The main characters are Pacy and her best friend, Melody. Pacy and Melody are very alike. They are both Chinese American, well that’s how they met. They think alike too, and look the same. The setting of this book takes place in New York State, outside of the city. Pacy and Melody have a science fair and the school has a special guest to judge their projects, who is a very important person too. Pacy and Melody don’t know what they are going to do and whatever they do it better be good because they’ll lose the contest. Pacy and Melody did a plant thing, they grew plants with soda like coke and they also used water. Pacy and Melody get really nervous at the competition. Pacy and Melody have crushes on some people in their class (this part is the only thing I hate about this book,) and Melody has a notebook to write down the people that their crush talks to. “Today Teddy talked to Emma three times, Charlotte five times, you four times, and me six,” Melody reported. By, Friday Melody had filled her notebook.
I liked this book a lot! I liked it because the main characters are Chinese American, like me. But I didn’t like it just because of the crush part. I would recommend this book to 6-10 and maybe for a family. I rate this book 4 out of five stars. I think that people would like this book!

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Apr
03
2014

Lemony Snicket’s 8th book

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In Lemony Snicket’s 8th book from the series of Unfortunate Events,  the Hostile  Hospital continues the story of Violet, Klaus and Sunny Baudelaire. These three orphans who are still up against the evil Count Olaf, who has been trying to get their fortune for a very long time now! Violet likes to invent items. Klaus is the book worm. Sunny is just an infant who has four sharp teeth which she like to bite stuff with which comes in handy a lot.  This story takes place in a hospital in the middle of nowhere.

This is where the siblings have been on the run. And now they sneak into a hospital  where  their arch enemy is. Also in the previous book they were framed for a crime they did not commit. The crime was murdering Count Olaf, which they didn’t do. Here is a quote from  the book. “Quick get the little orphan brats,(said Count Olaf)before its too late!”

I really liked this book because it was an adventure and mystery book. I would recommend this book to 4th graders and up because I think that they would get it the most. I would give this book 5  stars because it is a really good book!! – Ruby

Apr
03
2014

Al Capone Does My Shirts, By Gennifer Choldenko

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Al Capone Does My Shirts, By Gennifer Choldenko

 

This is a great book. I would rate it 4 stars out of 5.

 

The main character is Matthew “Moose” Flanagan. In the book his real first name is only mentioned a few times. It is set in 1934 on Alcatraz. Alcatraz is an old inactive prison. There is an old saying, it is “Break the rules, go to prison. Break the prison rules, you go to Alcatraz. Alcatraz is also a small island off the coast of San Francisco. There has never been a successful escape.  Mouse has his friends on the rock: Annie, Jimmy, Theresa and Scout, who is an old friend from the city and is a great baseball player.

 

Moose has a dad, a mom, and a sister. But there is something wrong with one of them. Is it Cameron “Cam,” his dad, Helen, his mom, or Natalie “Nat.” It’s Nat. Every year, When it is Nat’s birthday, she turns 10. Over, and over, and over again. Now, There is a new school for 4-12 year olds that have disabilities. It’s called Esther P. Marinoff. Nat is actually 16. This helps power a decision that the school has had in mind for years.

 

Al Capone hears about this, some how and helps Moose with something… Something that could change the Flanagan’s life forever

 

The reason they moved onto Alcatraz is because they needed money, and Moose’s dad became an electrician on Alcatraz. They live in building 64, the main housing building.

 

There is a warden, he has a daughter named Piper Williams. They have money and live in a giant mansion. She seems nice and attractive at first, but is stuck up, sensitive and rude. She persuasively lores Moose into a laundry scheme. Since there is no school on Alcatraz, they attend school in San Francisco. Piper tells all of the kids that Al does their laundry. It’s true. She collects money from the kids to let them have their clothes washed by Capone. But when Moose’s laundry comes back, (he doesn’t need to  pay, because he lives on the island) There is a note from Al Capone… In Mooses laundry. I would recommend this to people who like mystery and history books.

This is the first book out of 3 books.

 

Apr
02
2014

11 Birthdays, by Wendy Mass

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11 Birthdays by Wendy Mass

This book is about a girl named Amanda. When she was born her parents made a promise to a lady named Angelina. The promise was that she would always have her birthday with her best friend Leo. Until she was 9 she kept that promise. You will read more about that later. Her parents never intended to keep the promise but they always had it happen that way. The book takes place in a place called Willow Falls.

On their 10th birthday Amanda got into a fight with Leo so they decided to not have their 11th birthday together. When she has her birthday separately she is miserable. She misses Leo but is still mad at him. The next day she wakes up to find that it is just her birthday all over again. She and Leo have to make up and then team up to get their birthday to happen just once a year. “‘ I get it.’ I announce happily.  ‘This is all just a game.’” Amanda first thinks when she wakes up on her birthday. Again.

 

I really liked this book because it is realistic fiction and a bit or a mystery. You can read this and get 2 in 1! It is told from her perspective which I really like and it gives a bunch of details. I would recommend this to someone who enjoyed other Wendy Mass books and who likes a some mystery. I really liked all the other books she written. I would give this 5 stars.

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Apr
02
2014

Emily Windsnap and the Sirens Secret, by Liz Kessler

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Over spring break I read the third book in the Emily windsnap series, The Sirens Secret by Liz Kessler. The main character in the Emily  windsnap  series is of of course Emily. Aaron and Shona are Emily’s best friends and are with Emily throughout the story. Emily has a crush on Aaron which makes things really awkward between them.  Emily is a loyal friend, determined, funny and shy towards new people. The setting of the book is mostly in the water because well the main character is a mermaid. Emily’s mom is a human so the story of course takes place on land too.  If you have not read any of the books on this series I would suggest reading the book reviews on the first and seconded books.

UnknownOne day Emily and Shona are really bored so Shona advises that Emily and herself go to see the lost sirens. A siren is a mermaid that attacks fishing boats that come into certain parts of the sea, they lore the fishermen into the sea bringing them to instant deaths by their siren songs. Anyway shins went looking for the lost sirens and decided to split up.  Emily was swimming along when she felt a strange current pulling her into what looked like an old well. Emily made the decision to jump into the well which led her to the lost sirens. At first when Emily met the sirens they seemed so nice and gentle. But after a while their soft tone turned into an impatient sharp tone that was when Emily had a feeling that the sirens were slowly but forcing her to do something, but Emily wasn’t sure

what that thing was…at least not yet. SING! Emily was not told why she had to sing but some feeling inside her told her to do what the sirens said or else… After a few hours Emily remembered about Shona, she had to find her. As Emily was remembering Shona guess who shot herself down that well, no one but Shona. They tried to go up the well but soon realized they were trapped they had to get out some how…

One important part is Emily’s big problem problem but that is in the paragraph above so another important part which so happens to be my favorite part too. When Mr. Beaston discovers the truth about his past. With the help of Emily, Shona, and Aaron a secret of a lie is on covered. This is an very emot

ional scene when all the most of the characters help one another that’s one of the good things about the Emily windsnap series. The books are all about love, friendship, and how important helping others is.

I really enjoyed this book because of its messages and the little problems that come up here and there. People who like sad books, books about friendship, love and and a little bit of mystery this book is for you. One of my favorite quotes in this book is “So what are we supposed to do now?” I like that quote because when something goes wrong Emily assumes that someone else is always supposed to have a backup plan. I would give this book ***** out of ***** stars.

Apr
02
2014

Spy School By Stuart Gibbs

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Spy School is about a boy named Benjamin Ripley. He is a normal kid, he likes to play sports etc. until… One day a agent in the CIA comes to his house and asks him to apply to a ‘science school’ which is really a secret CIA training camp. He is so excited and he says yes but there is one problem. He can’t tell his parents that it’s a secret CIA training facility. His parents are psyched that he got into a new school but they want to check it out. Ben has a tough time saying no to his parents. Because in the book it says “It was a hard choice to leave my parents but I wanted to be in the CIA so I said yes.”

 

He went to the school and as soon as he got there there was an attack by the enemy. He went into the nearest building and found a girl crouching there. Ben asked her what she was doing there and she said that she was one of the students at the school. Then the girl gave Ben a Taser. Then they snuck out of the building and went to the building where the principals office was. I don’t want to tell more about this because there will be spoilers.

I will give this book 1,000,000 out of 10 stars because it kept me on my toes waiting for something else to happen. I would recommend this book to 4th-5th graders because third graders wouldn’t understand the book and 6th graders wouldn’t like. I would also reccomend this book to people who like mysteries.

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