Category Archives: Realistic Fiction

Genre

Jan
08
2014

11 Birthdays, by Wendy Mass

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My book review is on 11 Birthdays by Wendy Mass. It is about Amanda and her ex-best friend Leo. Leo is her ex-best friend because they have the same birthday and used to celebrate it together, but on their 10th birthday Amanda overheard Leo saying mean things about her to Leo’s other friends. She hasn’t talked to him since. Now it is her 11th birthday and it will be the first time they have not celebrated it together. Leo is having a party with hypnotists and football players and Amanda is having a lame Hollywood themed party. All she thinks that it is so unfair. After she has the worst birthday ever and she finally goes to sleep to end the day, things take a twist. When she wakes up it is her 11th birthday again! When she realizes someone else is stuck in this day again with her, she has to fight her way out. This book is full of unexpected turns especially when you meet Angelina, ( hint, hint, clue, clue.) I rate this book five stars to people who like a little mystery but not too much. I like this book because it is very fun and full of twists.

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

This Isn’t What It Look Like by Pseudonymous Bosch

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I recently read a book called This Isn’t What It Looks Like by Pseudonymous Bosch. It is a very mysterious book. One thing that makes it mysterious is that the author shows you chapters sometimes that seem random when you are reading them but by the end of the book, you know exactly why he showed you that chapter at that time.

 

The book is about a girl named Cass, who by eating a piece of chocolate, hopes she can find one of the most important pieces of information in the world. Then she falls asleep and goes into a coma, but in her brain, she is on a mission. Will she find out the information, or will she not? Will she get out of her coma, or will she die? I am leaving that for you to figure out. At some times, the book is really relaxing and funny, but at some times, you are not sure if the main characters (Cass and Max-Ernest) will make it back alive.

 

I rate this book four stars because the book is mysterious, but not quite a mystery.

Jan
08
2014

The Lemonade Crime by Jacqueline Davies

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A book review by Meadow Magee.

This book is great! I relate to it because I have a brother just like Jessie does. I got to learn a lot about how court works because the setting is just like a real court but in the playground, outside of school using recess equipment. Every start of a chapter has a definition of the title which is all about court. For example, “Trial by Jury: a legal proceeding in which the guilt or innocence of a person accused of a crime is decided by a group of his or her peers, rather than by a judge or panel of judges.” This book picks up after the first book which is The Lemonade War. There is one more book after The Lemonade Crime called The Bell Bandit that I have not read yet!

 

Jessie and Evan are the main characters of this story. They are siblings, Jessie is 8 and Evan is 10. I am 9 and my brother, River is 11 which is why I feel so connected. Jessie is very smart but she has some trouble connecting to other kids. Evan, on the other hand, is very good at connecting to kids but has a little trouble with his math. Jessie is now in Evan’s class because she skipped a grade on account of how clever she is. They live in Manhattan with their mom because their mom and dad are divorced and their dad lives somewhere else.

 

In the first book there was a war to collect $100 by the end of summer break by selling lemonade. At the end of the first book money was stolen and this second book is all about finding out who really stole the money and Jessie makes a court scene about this and makes it very official. Scott is also a main character and he is the one accused of the stealing the money. Megan is a main character too as she is Jessie’s best friend. It’s Jessie’s first best friend ever so it means a lot to her. (Just like Oni means a lot to me) Megan helps out Jessie with the lemonade stand. Megan doesn’t know there is a war going on. Megan is involved in the court proceedings as a member of the audience. The crime occurred at Jack’s house with a couple of friends including Evan and Scott.

I don’t want to give you all the details as it will give away a lot of the book. You just have to read the book yourself! It’s a great book and I would rate this book five stars. This book is ideal for 8-11 year old boys and girls because the court stuff makes it a little hard to understand for anyone younger. I think that you should read The Lemonade War first because you won’t understand this otherwise. I would also give The Lemonade War five stars. I hope you enjoy the “Lemonade” series!

 

Jan
07
2014

Athlete vs. Mathlete by W.C. Mack

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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.

Dec
20
2013

The Million Dollar Throw, By Mike Lupica

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This is an amazing book by an amazing author.  It’s about a boy Named Nate ‘Brady’ Brodie.  He is an extreme patriots fan and his idol is Tom Brady.  He is an eighth grader, lives in Massachusetts and is on his school football team.  He a star QB. The one thing nate really understands and feels comfortable is; well, is football.  He has two best friends: Malcolm (for football and hard times) and Addy (for everything+football and hard times). Addy and Nate go to ‘sportsstuff’ (like Models but with a memorabilia section) and with all the money Nate has been saving up for years… he buys a ball signed by Tom Brady.  It cost 500$.  Then Addy saw a sign that was about a ‘Million Dollar throw’ that would have the winner sand at the 30 yard line and throw a ball into a 20’’ hole in a big ‘sportsstuff’ logo.  It would happen at the Pats stadium at the ‘Thanksgiving Day Game.’  The requirements were you need to be at least 13, make a purchase 500$, get his parents signature and the kids own.  Addy practically made him sign the contract.

 

Mike Lupica made this into a long story bye having every detail, stretched out sentences, and doesn’t have anything about the throw until a few chapters into the book.

When the throw is happening is 3 chapters until the book is over.  I would rate this book 6 out of 5 stars (yes, 6).

 

Mike Lupica has lots of suspense in his books and I highly recommend him to sports fans because he does overall excellent writing and has many books about many sports.

Dec
19
2013

Catching Fire By Suzanne Collins

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(:WARNING DON’T READ THIS REVIEW IF YOU HAVE NOT READ THE FIRST BOOK:)

Catching Fire is the sequel to The Hunger Games and is by Suzanne Collins. It is about a place called Panem with a place called the Capitol and 12 (or maybe 13) districts. The hunger games is when a male and a female gets reaped from their district to fight each other to the death and the people who got reaped from the other districts. The reaped people are called tributes. Being reaped means you get picked to be in the hunger games. The tributes from district 12 in the 74th hunger games is Peeta Mellark and Katniss Everdeen. They’re mentor for the games is Haymitch Abernathy. Katniss’s best friend who despises the Capitol is named Gale Hawthorne. Peeta and Katniss win the hunger games and become victors. they are also about to become mentors when the Quarter Quell happens. The Quarter Quell is a special hunger games that happens every 25 years. For the 75th hunger games the victors are to be reaped from their district and fight. Now Katniss’s chances of surviving are even slimmer. When you are reading the book you will uncover all different secret/surprise characters. When Peeta and Katniss are reaped again they hear hints of rebellion spreading around Panem. I enjoyed the book dearly because I simply just could not put it down.

I would rate it 1 stars for people who cannot handle gruesome scenes. And 5 stars for people who can handle gruesome scenes and understand every single thing that is happening on the page. My favorite part of the book is when Katniss makes a jaw-dropping performance in the training area with her bow and arrows.  My least favorite part is probably when a poisonous fog starts chasing the tributes. Again, as mentioned, I would really like to recommend this book to people with a tough stomach.

                                                                                                                           

Fun Facts

Haymitch won his games on a Quarter Quell when they put twice the amount of tributes into the arena.

Peeta had a crush on Katniss since he was five.

 

Dec
19
2013

Charlie Joe Jackson’s Guide To Not Reading By Tommy Greenwald

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The book Charlie Joe Jackson’s guide to not reading is about a kid named Charlie Joe Jackson and how he hates to read. Charlie Joe Jackson hates reading so much he does some mischievous things to get out of it. Luckily Charlie has a good friend named Katie of course she is a girl because boys need girls to survive because girls know what to do almost all the time. Katie helps Charlie a lot during this book.

I really loved this book because I personally don’t like to read and this book told me I’m not the only one. Another reason I loved the book is because Charlie goes through two problems with school and some more problems about school but not in school. I like when there is an obviously problem that makes me think about what is going to happen next.

 

My favorite part of the book was when well I don’t know because I liked it all to much to decide. My least favorite part was when the book ended I liked it so much.

 

I recommend this book to people who don’t like to read because it is about a kid who doesn’t like to read.

  I give this book 5 out of 5 stars

 

Dec
19
2013

The Mother Daughter Book Club By Heather Vogel Frederick

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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!

Dec
19
2013

Eleven By Lauren Myrecle

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This book is about a girl who’s life is not that good. Her name is Winifred. She goes by Winnie. The main characters are Winnie’s best friend named Amanda, Winnie, and  a  girl  named  Dinah  Divine. ( It is pronounced Dina, not Diana) This book takes place in a happy little town. One  important  thing  that happened  was that Winnie’s cat gets trapped  in the wall. I really  enjoyed  this book because it is funny and silly. I would recommend  this book to people who like humor but with a little sadness included.  I would totally rate this book 5  stars, because it is totally awesome in my opinion.