Apr
08
2014

Girls acting Catty

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Girls Acting Catty

by Leslie Margolis

I read this book called Girls Acting Catty it’s by Leslie Margolis. The main character is a girl named Annabelle. Annabelle is a really sweet girl, who has trouble dealing with change. For example when Annabelle moves away and starts going to a new school and making new friends she has a tough time dealing with all the change .  Also before she moved she went to an all girls school and now she goes to a school with boys and she realizes that trying to run away from your problems just makes things worse. In this story Annabelle’s mom gets married so Annabelle welcomes a new dad and brother into the family. She has friendship problems like all girls do. The setting is in Westlake.

 

For Annabelle growing up isn’t that easy she gets teased a lot and when her brother moves in with her and she realizes that she has a crush on him everything changes. Also in the book she loses her friends, and also her mom gets married for the first time so now Annabelle has a dad and a brother and that is a big change for her because she only had a mom and now she has to welcome 2 new people to the family. In the book after Annabelle had lost her friends she said “With no dog and no friends, I was the loneliest loner in town”.

 

I really liked this book because it’s well written and the main character Annabelle  is like a lot of kids and sometimes it feels good to read something about a character who is like you and knowing that they went through the same problems as you even if they are just made up people. I would recommend this book to people who are getting bullied, or who have friendship problems, to people who are sensitive, and to people who have very tender hearts. Annabelle is all of those things and it feels good to relate to a character in a book you’re reading. I would rate this book five out of five stars. *****

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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

Adventures According to Humphrey by Betty G. Birney

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april 2 2014

 

Adventures According to Humphrey

 

Adventures According to Humphrey is by Betty G. Birney. Humphrey the hamster is the main character. Humphrey is nice, caring, thoughtful and a lot more. He is at a school. He is a classroom pet in room 26.

 

Humphrey is a hamster who is very caring so he likes to help his human friends out even when he did cause the child’s problems. For example, he helped Richie his classroom friend, by trying to stop him from breaking the rules when they went on a field trip you were not allowed to bring a remote control boat for the boat race. Richie did bring a remote control boat even though you were not allowed to. He went to Potters Pond a grassy area where they took their field trip. He also went into the library and

accidently pressed a button and a strange pirate movie came up. Also he went to his classroom friends house and he thought they were going to paint him. A j, a classroom friend, bellowed ,“You have to be quiet in the library”.

 

This book is one of my favorites actually there is a  whole series of them. It has lots of funny parts and you just want to keep on reading it. I would recommend this book to 3rd through 5th grade because it is not too long but not too short I think it is a fabulous book. The book has 118 pages. I would rate this book 5 stars***** out of 5.

 

 

Apr
08
2014

Dumpling Days by Grace Lin

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9780316125901Dumpling days is about a family who lives in New Hartford, which is in upstate New York and they visit Taiwan for 26 days. Pacy, who is not so excited to go to Taiwan starts to like Taiwan so do Lissy and Kiki, those are Pacy’s sisters. Lissy is the oldest Pacy is the middle child and Kiki is the youngest. Pacy’s parents are from Taiwan so they are really excited to go. When Pacy’s family arrives at the Taiwan airport Pacy, Lissy and Kikis aunt and uncle picks up the whole family up and brings them to their home, their names are uncle flower and auntie Jin.

 Pacy’s mom and dad signs lissy Kiki and Pacy up for painting, calligraphy and paper cutting. Lissy does calligraphy, Pacy does painting and Kiki does paper cutting. Pacy does not want to do painting at all. When Pacy meets a girl named Audrey Chang she is not so happy because in Pacy’s mind she thinks that she is mean but she is actually not. Soon it is Pacy’s grandma’s birthday so Pacy, Kiki, Lissy and their mom go shopping to buy pastries and food for the party. “When it is your 60th birthday for chinese people there is a big celebration” says Pacy’s mom so that is why everyone is having a big celebration. Before they have grandma’s party Pacy’s family visits Taipei to see their other aunt and uncle and they visit all different places. There is a contest when they come back for the art class of who has the best painting. A girl named Eva wang wins but then Pacy and Eva make friends. After grandma’s party it is time to go home. Everyone says goodbye and then they get on the plane. Pacy’s dad had to leave Taiwan early because he had work. So Pacy, Lissy, Kiki and their mom go on the plane and now they are on their way home.

I really liked this book it was one of the best books I have read. I would say this book is an adventurous book and a little bit non fiction. The book is a little non fiction because the places that their family visits are actually real places in Taiwan. I would give this book a five star rating out of five stars.

 

Apr
08
2014

The Key To The Indian by Benjamin Winokur-Applebaum

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Over spring Break I read a book called The Key To The Indian written by LYNNE REID BANKS.  This book is the fifth and last book of the series there are three main characters in this book. The first one is Omri.  Omri is 12 years old, loves school and lives a few miles away from the English Channel.  His family inherited the house and barn that they now live in from their mom’s Great Aunt.  Omri’s ca Charlotte made a cupboard with a magic key.  Anything that you put into the cupboard, let’s say a plastic fish, will become real.  Another main character is Little Bear, an Iroquois chief, who is very wise though he is young, from the time right around the French and Indian Wars, who was brought to life by Jessica Charlotte’s cupboard and key.  When they first meet each other (first book) they become blood brothers and visit each other every 5 months (time that the books take place) in the other person’s time.  The third main character in this book is Omri’s dad.  He learns the secret about the cupboard and it’s magic and they go off on a trip to help Little Bear that is disguised as a camping trip.  They ask an old friend who knows the secret to help them leap back in time.

Omri brings back Jessica Charlotte to re-design the cupboard key so that it fits into the car so that they can bring more supplies back to Little Bear’s time, but they have some problems with the size and time.  One thing that you have to know is everyone and everything that/who comes through the cupboard is about as big as your thumb (6½ inches) .  This book will leave you “Tearing your hair out” by the end (not literally)

If you like surprises and adventure this book belongs to you then because that is what happens in the series and mostly in this book, The key to the indian I would rate this book a 7 out of 5 stars.

7*******___out of___ *****5

Apr
08
2014

Rooftoppers by Katherine Rundell

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Polly Hoffman

 

Rooftoppers is a book about a girl named Sophie and her dad who is not a dad named Charles. Sophie of course is a growing girl so Charles will have to take care of her. Everyone thinks that Charles will not be able to take care of Sophie, especially Miss Eliot, the girl who wants Sophie to be proper, wear pink dresses and get a real dad and mom.

 

Sophie wants to be unique and her own type of girl so she decides to wear trousers and shirts and not skirts and shirts. She climbs trees and reads and Miss Eliot doesn’t like that at all. “You will have to get a mom and a dad some day,” said Miss Eliot. So Charles and Sophie go to France so Miss Eliot won’t tell Sophie what to wear and what to do.

 

I loved this book because it sounds like a true story. I think this book is good for people 8 years old to 12 years old I rate this book 3 and ¾ stars. I think you will like this book, because it is awesomely good.

 

Apr
08
2014

Lost in London by Cindy Callaghan

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Lost-in-London-by-Cindy-CallaghanLost in London by Cindy Callaghan is about a girl named Jordan Jacoby. Jordan lives this normal and boring life until she finds this flyer about doing some studies about London in London. At first her parents won’t let her go but then all of a sudden Jordan is off to London. Jordan is just like a normal girl before London but she gets a London makeover and after she’s a total fashionista and a total girly-girl. The setting is London for the whole book except for the very beginning and the very end.

 

What happens with Jordan is she gets to London and when she thinks she going for some studies thing, she’s wrong. The girl (Caroline) who’s taking Jordan around makes it very different. Jordan and Caroline start by meeting Caroline’s friends and Jordan make them call her JJ because she wants them to think she’s very cool. JJ and Caroline get locked in Daphne’s (it’s just a very big mall with a fancy name). After they get out JJ left her phone and this really rude boy has video footage of them and JJ and her friends have to do someone’s school work. Right when JJ feels she’s getting along well with Caroline, Caroline says she thinks hanging out with JJ is boring. JJ gets really angry and plans a huge prank on Caroline. A quote from the book that I really like is, “I was going to embark on a journey call the De-bored-ification of Jordan Jacoby. Only I didn’t know how de-bored-ified my life was about to be.”

 

I really liked the book because it was funny and surprising. The reading level is sort of easy but the concept is for 4th grade girls. I would give this book 4 ****. It is a really good book and I think you should read it too!

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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