Category Archives: Realistic Fiction

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Apr
02
2014

Eleven Birthdays, by Wendy Mass

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The book Eleven Birthdays is about a girl named Amanda and her ex-best friend Leo. They have the same birthday. Every year when their birthday came around they would have a party together. This year, on their eleventh birthday they are having separate parties because the year before they had gotten into a fight. Everyone at school that day is talking about Leo’s party because his party includes a famous sports star, a hypnotist, and an awesome band. Amanda is not excited at all for her party because she has to squeeze into an itchy Dorothy costume and tight blister-giving shoes. Amanda also said “ I wish me and Leo were having a party together” Amanda just wants her birthday to be over and Saturday to come. There is just one problem the next day is not Saturday it’s friday again.

My favorite part of the book is when well I can’t really tell you because it would be a spoiler, but I will tell you why I like it. I like it because Amanda finally found something out that will really help her. My least favorite part of the book is when this woman named Angelina disappears when Amanda most needs her. I don’t like that part because Amanda is really close to solving the mystery and then she disappears. She really makes Amanda scared and confused. I liked this book a lot because I was almost solving Amanda’s problem with her. The book was a little slow at parts.

UnknownI would recommend this book to people who like a realistic fiction book with fantasy mixed into it. I really like this kind of book because it is not as simple as a realistic fiction book, but it is not as hard to follow with the adventure and the amount of characters in a fantasy book. I would give this book 4 ½ stars.

Apr
02
2014

My Name Is Mina And I Love The Night Anything Seems Possible At Night When The Rest Of The World Has Gone Sleep, By David Almond.

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“My Name Is Mina” is about a girl who starts to write a journal about her life. But there is a catch. She does it at night. She says anything is possible when the rest of the world has gone to sleep. Well Mina isn’t the coolest kid around. She writes in another diary during the day in a tree. So she gets bullied a lot. This book changes years constantly so you kind of have to keep up. Mina lives in England. She gets kicked out of school because she write nonsense on an important essay the had to write.

 

Here is a quote from “My Name Is Mina.” “Sometimes I look at the world and I am amazed that there’s anything at all. Why is there anything? Why is there something? Rather than nothing? Why? Why? Why? Why? Was there just nothing? And did that nothing turn into something? And if that nothing turned into something how did it do it, and why? Why? Why? Why?

 

Well Mina isn’t exactly the worlds, average kid. She is a bit mental. So she is not mental in a way that makes her stupid just in a way that makes her strange. Find out if Mina gets back into school and gets a normal life. If you read this book. I give this book a four and a half star rating. It was good but it was a little weird. At first I thought it would be a complete waste of time.

 

But this book really taught me that we are lucky about what we have. And what our brain is like. We have normal brains. Some kids are really messed up in the head. But we are lucky enough that that did not happen to us. I also liked the book because it was they gave you interesting facts and fun things to do when you have free time.

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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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Mar
03
2014

Mallory on the move by Laurie Friedman

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Mallory On The Move is a book about a girl named Mallory who has to move away from her lifelong BFF. When she moves she will have to make new friends with new people she is not so happy about that. She meets a boy whose name is Joey and Mallory likes that she has a friend. Mallory and Joey love the street that they live on because the street that they live on is called Wish Pond Road. Wish Pond Road has a wish pond.

 

Mallorys BFF Mary-Ann comes to visits Mallory and she is not expecting Joey to be friends with Mallory. “How about we all play,” Said Mary-Ann. That is a good idea to her, but most groups of three don’t work if they all play. Bad decision. Read the book to find out what happens next so I don’t spoil the ending.

 

This book is a really good book because there are 14 books in the series so you can read them all. The names of them are  Mallory on the Move,  Back to School Mallory, Mallory vs. Max, Happy Birthday Mallory, In Business with Mallory, Heart to Heart with Mallory, Mallory on Board, Honestly Mallory, Campfire Mallory, Step Fourth Mallory,  Red White & True Blue Mallory, Happy New Year Mallory, Mallory Goes Green and Mallory in the Spotlight. ( they are in the order to read them.) I rate this book 4⅔. If you are 8-12 This book is good for you.

 

 

 

Feb
28
2014

Mallory On The Move by Laurie Friedman

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imgres Mallory On The Move is a book about a girl named Mallory who has to move away from her lifelong BFF. When she moves she will have to make new friends with new people she is not so happy about that. She meets a boy whose name is Joey and Mallory likes that she has a friend. Mallory and Joey love the street that they live on because the street that they live on is called Wish Pond Road. Wish Pond Road has a wish pond.

Mallorys BFF Mary-Ann comes to visits Mallory and she is not expecting Joey to be friends with Mallory. “How about we all play,” Said Mary-Ann. That is a good idea to her, but most groups of three don’t work if they all play. Bad decision. Read the book to find out what happens next so I don’t spoil the ending.

This book is a really good book because there are 14 books in the series so you can read them all. The names of them are  Mallory on the Move,  Back to School Mallory, Mallory vs. Max, Happy Birthday Mallory, In Business with Mallory, Heart to Heart with Mallory, Mallory on Board, Honestly Mallory, Campfire Mallory, Step Fourth Mallory,  Red White & True Blue Mallory, Happy New Year Mallory, Mallory Goes Green and Mallory in the Spotlight. ( they are in the order to read them.) I rate this book 4⅔. If you are 8-12 This book is good for you.

Feb
27
2014

5,6,7, Nate by Tim Federle

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Warning: This is the second book in a series

The book I read was the 2nd in a series. ( The Nate series. ) The main character’s name is Nate. Nate loves to sing and dance and his dream is to be on Broadway. He is shy but not when he’s on stage. This character is gay but he is shy about it. In this book his dream comes true. He is the understudy ET in ET: The Musical.  The setting is New York City.

In this book Nate’s problem is that he is afraid to go on stage. He is trying as hard as he can but he just isn’t getting the hang of it. One thing that happened is that one of the shows was going to be in Central Park. The guy who was going to play Elliot was a guy named Jordan. Jordan is very rich. Jordan’s mother wants Jordan to do the show with the real ET but the real ET can’t do it. Nate has to sneak on. Another thing that happens is that his best friend Libby’s mother is sick and dying. He has to comfort her and help her through it.

I really enjoyed this book because it is written in 1st person and I really enjoy reading in 1st person. Nate is really convincing and realistic. It seems like the author was Nate.  I would recommend this book to people who enjoy the theater because this book is about the theater. I would rate this 5 out of 5.

 

Feb
26
2014

The Kicks Saving The Team, By Alex Morgan Olympic Gold Medalist

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The Kicks Saving The TUnknowneam by Alex Morgan, is about A girl named Devin who just moved from Pennsylvania and is really good at soccer and is worried about not making the soccer team. But then she meets Jessi who tells her the coach is very inclusive so everyone makes the team but she also hears the team is very bad! Then she becomes a co captain but the other co captain is the meanie and they lose a lot of games! Will devin save the team?

 

Devin is a really good student. At a point during the season Jessi is falling behind and she is not aloud to play on the team. But devin tutors her and she gets back on the team. But then they have their rivalry game and mirebel does something that makes things worse so with some new friends devin just might make a good start in a totally new place. Emma whose clumsy and zoe with stage fright and frida the actor devin might turn the team around!

two important parts about the book is when Devin Find solutions for all the players that is important because it helps their team win! And when devin gets voted team captain on her first day of school in a whole new state across the country from where she is from. That is important because  if she become team captin she would not have been able to help the team how she helped. something she said on the first day was: f Yeah, x is in how many friends i’ve made so far. X = none.”

I enjoyed the book because it had a lot of sports, and friendship problems I also liked how she stood up for herself but still really flexible and strong! I would recommend this book to people like freindship and sorts related and moveing schools and makeing things better by acomplishing things. I would rate this book five out of five stars!

Feb
26
2014

The Magic Trap (Book 4 of the Lemonade Wars Series By Jaquline Davies

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The Magic Trap by Jaquline Davies is the 4th book in the Lemonade War series. The Main characters in this book are Evan and Jessie Treski. Jessie is really smart and skipped third grade. Evan is mad at her because he doesn’t  want his sister to be in his class (My guess is that if you have a sibling you wouldn’t want them in your class). I totally agree with you. Evan is a really sporty kid because he plays basketball a lot (Which is why I would recommend this book to Marlowe and all the other basketball fans). This book is in a modern time and it’s mostly in Evan and Jessie’s house. I think that it gives it a certain thing that makes an impact. (If you read it you’ll understand more).

 

Evan has been learning magic in his free time. One day Evan’s dad comes home and because his parents are divorced he’s mad at his dad for putting work in front of him and Jessie but he’s happy that he’s home. His mom has to go on a trip for work so his dad has to take care of him and Jessie. Evan’s dad suggests that Evan should put on a magic show and Jessie’s all over the idea and she asks if she can be the assistant. Evan isn’t sure. What will his dad do to help him with the show. But it might be upsetting to his mom.

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How will this book turn out? You’ll have to find out. I loved this book because it suits my personality because Evan is a kid who’s like me. I would recommend this book to any kid in this grade because you’ll find a way to connect to it. It’s as of now a 4 book series and I recommend reading the first book and then after that you can read any of the later books. I would give this book 5 *****’s because I could connect to it.

 

 

 

Feb
26
2014

The Bad Beginning, by Lemony Snicket

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    The Bad Beginning is about three kids, one named Violet, one named Klaus, and one named Sunny. These kids are very rich, but when their parents die their lives aren’t so easy anymore. The kids end up living in a house with a man named Count Olaf. Count Olaf wants the kids money and so he doesn’t really treat the kids nicely, or if you want to say he treats the kids badly, that works too. At one point Count Olaf wants to marry Violet so he can steal the family’s money. I don’t want to give any spoilers so I will not go on.

     I liked the book a lot because it was interesting to see how the kids tried to solve their problems. The narrator of the story is the author. Klaus really likes to read books and is kind of a nerd. He doesn’t change much throughout the story. Violet is nice and a good sister to both Klaus and Sunny. She isn’t really like Klaus, (nerdy) but she follows along with his smart ways. She changes into a more smart and nerdy person throughout the book. The reader doesn’t know a lot about Sunny. The only thing I really learned about Sunny is that she likes to chew on anything she can find and she uses chewing to show her feelings. Sunny doesn’t really change throughout the book.

My favorite part of the book is when the kids first move in to Count Olafs house because it is funny to read how confused and scared they were. My least favorite part of the book is when Sunny gets hung from the top of the forbidden tower because it was scary to think of a little kid being hung from a tower.

BadBeginningI would recommend this book to people who like books where the story is possible, but also not really realistic. I would give this book 5 out of 5 stars.

Feb
26
2014

Once Upon A Toad by Heather Vogel Frederick

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imgres       Once Upon A Toad  by Heather Vogel Frederick is about two stepsisters named Cat & Olivia and they both really hate each other. The book takes place in Portland, Oregon. The two girls are so different from each other. Cat lives with her mom in Houston, Texas and came to Oregon for three months because her mom is on a mission in space and Cat loves classical music and is a tomboy. Olivia, on the other hand loves arts and crafts and is a total girly girl.

 

       At school Olivia and all her friends make fun of Cat and call her mean names like Catbox and hold their noses whenever they walk by Cat. Cat thinks everything is as bad as it gets so she calls Great-Aunt Abyssinia (A.K.A. Aby) to come. She tells Aby everything and Aby tells Cat that she will find a really good way to fix this. The next morning Cat wakes up and things had just gone from bad to way worse. Everytime words came out of her mouth toads came out too. But whenever Olivia talked, diamonds and flowers came out of her mouth. Soon everyone all over knew about the diamonds, flowers and toads. After that everyone wanted Olivia so some people kidnapped their little brother Geoffrey to get Olivia. Olivia and Cat have to run away to find him and to stop all this crazy fairytale stuff from happening. One of my favorite quotes from the book that Cat said is, “I drew a shaky breath. It still made absolutely no sense. Middle-schoolers didn’t start spontaneously spewing toads. How could this be happening? How could that creature have come from me? My mouth still tasted like breakfast cereal, not toad. Not that I knew what toad tasted like.”

      I really, really liked Once Upon A Toad. I would recommend this book to people who like realistic fiction with a hint of fantasy because it’s about people not monsters and it’s in a realistic place not somewhere made up but the fantasy part is you can not just start spitting out toads and flowers and diamonds and there is no such thing as casting spells. I would rate this book four stars ****! The book is written in a fun way. I really like Once Upon A Toad and I think you should read it too.