Monthly Archives: May 2014

May
28
2014

Where the Mountain Meets the Moon by Grace Lin

Posted by

This book is called Where the Mountain Meets the Moon by Grace Lin. The book is about a girl named Minli hearing all different stories about long ago by her dad which is normally called Ba and one story, Minli hears a story she believes so much Minli goes out of fruitless mountain which is where she lives and goes to try to find it. The thing Minli tries to find is the man of the moon. The man of the moon grants wishes for people every ninety nine years, but the thing Minli doesn’t know is he only grants one wish. After Ma which is Minlis mom and Ba are still working Minli goes back to her house and leaves a note that she will not be back for a few days. When Minli finds the man of the moon she was going to ask how fruitless mountain can be fruitful again.

imgresThe night Minli goes out she goes out of fruitless mountain and goes up another mountain. Since Minli was really tired she took a nap near a forest and next to a lake. When Minli woke up she found a Dragon in the lake stuck with vines so she helped the dragon. The dragons name was Dragon. Dragon was made from a painting but the ink from the painting is actually where Dragon was born and if you read this book you will find out how the dragon was in the ink stone. Dragon said “I remember when a bird flew from the sky and dropped a peach pit onto the ground. I watched that pit grow into a tree and the peaches fell from the tree and more trees grew from the pits of those peaches until it became the grove of peach trees that the monkeys have now taken over.”Minli thought the dragon was very old. Soon Minli returns with a good answer from the man of the moon for Dragon and something really magical and amazing happens that night…

I really enjoyed this book it was one of the best books I have ever read. For an example when Minli meets a dragon and the dragon is nice that is really interesting because most dragons would try to eat you in stories. I  also really enjoyed the little stories that are in the stories because they are stories from long ago. I would recommend this book to people who kind of believe in magic or who like magic and who like hearing ancient stories and who like hearing things that are a bit make believe but sound so interesting and amazing. I would recommend the book to the people who I just mentioned because if you like those kind of books the examples all go into this book. I would give this book 10 stars even though we are only supposed to do 5 stars!

 

May
28
2014

The Day My Butt Went Psycho! By Andy Griffiths

Posted by

This is my 7th book review!vutt

I think book is better than any book I have ever read. Everywhere on the cover it says based on a true story. It even has a paragraph about how it is based on a true story. The main character is Zach Freeman. This is the first thing he said before he started telling the story.”This is my story. It really happened. It’s all true. Not even the names have been changed. I agree to tell my story in the hope that others can learn from it, and I would like to thank Andy Griffiths for helping me to get it down on paper. Like most people I took my butt for granted for too long. If this book can save even just one person from making the same mistake, then I will be happy. Who knows? The next butt it saves might be yours. May your butt be with you always.” He has a butt that can detach itself from his body. His butt is like the king of all butts. Now you might think this is a weird thing but it is not. This thing happens a lot. Zack Freeman is ready to tell his story of a brave boy and his crazy runaway butt. The story has a crack butt-fighting unit called the B-team, a legendary Butt Hunter’s awesome daughter, and some of the ugliest, biggest and meanest butts ever to roam the face of the Earth. Zack goes on an epic journey across the Great Windy Desert, through the Brown Forest, and over the Sea of Butts before descending into the heart of an explosive buttcano to confront the biggest, ugliest, and meanest butt of them all! In the story they have disobedient butts, runaway butts, psycho butts, kamikaze butts, exploding butts, cluster butts, nuclear butts, giant unwiped butts, butt rallies, buttcachters, butt-fighters, butt hunters, butt guns and explosive buttcanos. This book has some insane animals too. Zach travels through The Great Windy Desert, The Brown Forest and The Sea of Butts.  This book has a lot of mystery, cliffhangers and plot changers in this book. I recommend this book to people that like funny books. I rate this book 5 stars.

 

May
28
2014

Because of Winn Dixie by Kate Dicamilo

Posted by

imgresI read this book called Because of Winn Dixie by Kate Dicamillo. The main character is this dog named Winn Dixie and this girl named Opal. Opal moves to Naomi, Florida and in Florida she has no friends. In Florida she becomes lonely and bored. All she has is her dad and her house and other people she doesn’t like. Until a stray dog runs loose into the Winn Dixie supermarket. Then she falls in love with him at first sight and lied that the dog was hers and named him Winn Dixie. Winn Dixie becomes Opal’s best friend.  Because of  Winn Dixie she meets new friends and the people she doesn’t like she becomes friends with.

 

In the book Opal makes all kinds of new friends, and becomes more forgiving. Opal realizes that every person has problems that cause them pain and everybody does things that are weird and maybe make you not like them but inside most people mean well. Opal is a kind lonely person who feels like she has no friends except for her dog. In the book Opal said, “And then I talked to God about how I was lonely in Naomi because I didn’t know that many kids, only the ones from church. And there weren’t that many kids at the Open Arms, just Dunlap and Stevie Dewberry, two brothers who weren’t twins but looked like they were. And Amanda Wilkinson, whose face was always pinched up like she was smelling something real bad: and Sweetie Pie Thomas, who was only five years old and still mostly baby. And none of them wanted to my friend anyway because they probably thought I’d tell on them to the preacher for every little thing they did wrong; and then they in trouble with God and their parents.”

 

I love this book because it really tells a story that is realistic but not true and the author wrote it nicely, and this is a book that you can really understand and relate to some of Opal’s problems. I would recommend this book to people who like dogs and are sensitive because that could help you feel like you are in the book and really there. I would rate this book five out of five stars.

 

May
28
2014

Posted by

imgres-4I am reading a book called The Lost Hero by Rick Riordan. It has three main characters. One named Jason, one named Leo and one named Piper. All three of them got mysteriously taken to a camp called Camp Half Blood. Camp Half Blood is a camp for half bloods. A half blood is someone who has one parent who is a greek god and one parent who is a regular person. Camp half blood is a place where half bloods have to train to go on quests. A quest is basically an adventure that not a lot of half bloods go on, to save someone or to get something. It is a very good community. Everyone who goes there is sort of like a family. They do things together and they are all friends in one way or another

They all got taken to Camp Half Blood, and immediately have to go on a quest. The quest is to save Hera, a very important greek god. All of Olympus would just fall apart without Hera, because Hera keeps the family of the gods together. Hera is the wife of Zeus. She has been kidnapped and Jason, Piper and Leo have to go on a quest to help save her. You have to read on in order to find out if they save her or not. Camp Half Blood is a place with strawberry fields, and it is meant to help half bloods train for quests. It is where most half bloods go.

Everything is going wrong without Hera, like Jason and Piper keep on seeing visions of Hera and also, a very important Half Blood named Percy Jackson has gone missing! Piper is mostly going on the quest because she is hoping that she will find her dad who has been missing for three days. She is hoping that on the quest, she will find him. Jason does not remember anything. He has no idea who he is or where he has been. All he knows is that something is not right. He senses it. He is going on the quest, hoping that he will get his memory back.

Leo is a mischievous kid who has a way with tools. He keeps on seeing the ghost of his babysitter named Tía Callida who tried to kill him! He is hoping that that has something to do with Hera being missing, so that if he completes the quest, Leo will stop seeing the ghost of his babysitter. Leo thinks Tía Callida had been trying to kill him, but maybe she was trying to make Leo stronger. On page 137, Tía Callida said, “Where is your bravery, little hero? Show me the fates were right to choose you.” Do you think Tía Callida has been trying to kill Leo or trying to make him stronger? Maybe Tía Callida was trying to see if Leo could stay alive after she let Leo play with a Rattle Snake.

I am really enjoying this book because I like how Rick Riordan included greek mythology in this book. I also like how he describes the setting in a way where you have to think in order to understand the setting. I also like how the book is really funny when Leo is talking. I would recommend this book to people who like magical books because this book is magical, in a realistic way. I also would recommend this book to people who like funny books because this book has funny quotes here and there. I would rate this book four stars.

.

 

May
28
2014

The Bell Bandit by Jacqueline Davies

Posted by

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

bell banditThe Bell Bandit is an fantastic book by Jacqueline Davies. Jesse and Evan are the main characters and they are brother and sister.  In the Bell Bandit they have to try and find the missing bell. The story takes place at their grandmother’s house in the countryside in 2013. Jesse and Evan also have other problems along the way as they try to find the bell. For example, their grandmother goes missing. It is very scary for them.

Jesse is very intelligent and she is very good at solving puzzles, but this puzzle stumped her. When Evan was looking for grandma, Jesse was looking for the Bell with her new friend Maxwell. Maxwell has a scene when he is freaked out and runs by evan and say “Ahhhhhhhhhh!”. Maxwell likes the television show called Maxwell Smart, so he does a joke where he always says, “I’m smart!” This get Jesse a little mad because she is the smart one and she doesn’t understand the joke until later on. She tries her very best to solve all the problems, but she doesn’t realize that she needs a little bit of help. Her brother can be very social, so that’s when Jesse needs the help. He is social and she is smart so they are better at working together as a pair.

I like this book because I feel like I can connect to it. Jesse has an older brother, like I do, and sometimes her brother doesn’t give her as much attention as she wants. I also feel the way Jesse acts connects to me. She has a funny way that she likes to solve problems and I have that way too. I would recommend this book to people who like books about stuff that can actually happen in real life, because everything in this book could happen in real life. This book makes me feel like adventures can happen that I can make myself. I would rate this book 4 stars because it was an amazing story; although some parts were quite confusing. I also suggest reading the two books before this book. I have also written a book review on both of those.

This was my 8th book review

May
28
2014

THE KEYS TO THE KINGDOM BY GARTH NIX

Posted by

The book that I read over the past week is The Keys To The Kingdom Mr. Monday by Garth Nix. The main character’s name is Arthur. He is very curious. Arthur’s problem is that he was given a key by a
mysterious man and he has no idea what to do with it.  He discovers many mysterious things that have been following him. When he has the key his wounds go away and things come to life. Arthur is trying to get to the bottom of this. This story takes place in the present because they describe phones and all kinds of current technology.

Arthur was given the key by a man named Mr Monday who thought Arthur was going to die as soon as he got it. Mr Monday’s assistant Sneezer betrayed him and somehow the key did the exact opposite. Mr Monday has been trying to get Arthur’s key back with his henchmen who are dog humans. The Fetcher look more like dogs in attack mode and like humans when in defense mode. Arthur also got an atlas with the key. In the atlas it said that the weakness of the dog like Fetchers is salt. When he pours salt on them it lets out a  horrifying fume that puts the school in quarantine. In the atlas it also said that there was a house in his neighborhood that belonged to Mr Monday. Arthur decides to go inside and finds out wonders. I am pretty sure if Arthur was not so curious none of this  would have happened. Like Arthur’s mom said “Curiosity kills”… and in his case literally.

 

I enjoyed the book because it kept me in suspense the whole time. Also it is very interesting so I always think about the book , even when I am not reading it. I also like the way the story changes from Arthur being a normal person to being some kind of wizard. I would recommend this book to somebody who can remember their facts from the beginning all the way to the end. But I mainly recommend this to people who like big surprises because if you don’t, this is not for you. I rate this book five out of five stars.


240215_dd

 

May
28
2014

The Glass Sentence

Posted by

The Glass Sentence

by Tilda Sutter (Well technically S.E. Grove)

 

My book review is on The Glass Sentence by S.E. Grove. The main character’s names are Sophia and Theo. In this book, in 1799, something called The Great Disruption happened. Every country was thrown into different time periods. Sophia lives in New Occident, Boston. At this point in history mapmaking has become a delicate mixture of Science and Magic. Her uncle is a famous mapmaker. Her parents are lost because they went exploring and never came back.. Sophia lives with her uncle. Her uncle is kidnapped by “Sandmen”. Sophia and Theo go to find him.

 

Sophia’s uncle makes memory maps, which is a map that when you touch one area on the map, it  brings you to someone’s memory of something that happened there. When her uncle is kidnapped, she finds a note saying, “Find Veressa and a block of glass.” Veressa is a girl her uncle knew from college. Now Veressa lives in the Badlands. Sophia and Theo also end up on a pirate ship. Sophia is worried about trusting Theo. Theo lies a lot. In this book people have different ideas of how The Great Disruption happened. “It cannot be undone. Every Cartographer, scientist, cosmographer will tell you the same thing: there can only be another disruption.” That means that the Great Disruption will never end or stop, it can only happen again.

 

I would  rate this book  100,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000 stars out of 5, but it can’t be over five, so five stars. The book is so good. I recommend this book to anyone who can read, actually if you can’t read, get someone to read it to you! I like this book because it makes you think of a lot of different concepts. It also makes you feel like you are in the book. It also makes you think of how your life would change if you were with Sophia and Theo. I also should mention that this book has not been published but you can get a advanced readers copy from the library. It will be published on June 12th.

May
13
2014

The City of Ember, by Jeanne Du Prau

Posted by

The City of Ember by Jeanne DuPrau is an amazing book. The main characters are Lina and Doon, and they’re good friends. Lina is a kind-hearted, curious, nice, surprising, and adventurous, 12 year old girl. Meanwhile, Doon is different in some ways than Lina. Doon is smart, adventurous, and has a temper. He’s good at figuring things out (read the book to see what I’m saying). When Lina and Doon were young, Lina challenged Doon and her friends to climb to the top of the lamp pole.  “Lina could do it all even when the dares got wilder.”   Lina fell and came laughing down to the ground. This shows Lina’s surprising and adventurous nature. In Ember, there was something called Assignment Day where the 12 year old kids of Ember are assigned jobs.  When Doon picked his job, he lost his temper and threw down the paper that told him his job in front of the mayor. This is one example of Doon losing his temper.

 

The book takes place in the underground city of Ember. It’s a dystopian book.  It is different and better than other dystopian books because this one is suspenseful, but in a good way.  Ember is running out of food, supplies, etc., but mostly light bulbs. Everybody’s afraid that the lights are just going to turn out permanently one day, because they flicker a lot.  If the lights go out, the city will be in complete darkness.  Lina and Doon have other problems. Lina was looking for something she thinks might help the city.  She finds something in a mysterious special box.  She thinks it might be what she is looking for, but it is a big mystery that needs to be solved. Lina and Doon work together to solve the mystery and save the city.  Have they figured it out yet?         I really liked this book because it is funny and weird in some moments. The people of Ember didn’t know what some things were, like ‘boats’ and ‘candles’ for example. One part I really liked was when Lina and Doon found a room full of boats, that were labeled “b”ntstill din’t know what r. I ple who are 8+ nger.I oul also recommend this book to peop le who like cliffhangers, because it ens in a cliffhanger, and the second book is the exact same , but the part 2.

May
06
2014

Are you their god its me, Margaret by Judy Blume

Posted by

Are you there god, it’s me Margaret

by Judy Blume

 

My book’s main character is Margaret. She is 11 and she moved to a new school. At first she is very worried until…   Margaret joined a club with her friend Nancy, Gretchen and Jen. At school Margaret gets the assignment to write about something important to her, and she choses religion. But she does not practice a religion yet.

During the book she tries to find her religion and gets to experience both religions, Judaism and Catholicism. She choses these two religions because one of her grandma’s is Jewish, the other is Christian.This book is an amazing book, but I mostly recommend this book for the people who like a calm book, by that I mean that you just want to read more and get sucked back inside the book so it does not feel like your reading a book. Even though this is an amazing book I don’t think that boys would like it because it is about religion and women problems.. Anyway, go ahead if you feel like you want to read this book . This book is a fun book to read to your family, and I rate it 5***** becuase the fact that you can read it with your parents is fun because you can share why you like this book.imgres

May
06
2014

How To Rock Braces And Glasses!

Posted by

How to rock braces and glasses

 

Gorgeous, Kacey Simon is the most popular girl in middle School. However, an eye infection and a visit to the dentist leave her with  Harry Potter glasses, a mouth full of metal! After being dissed and dismissed by her popular friends, Kacey is forced to hang out with a boy who wears skinny jeans and jams in his own band. But as she adjusts to the “real world” not “ popular girl world” she’s surprised to find that Skinny Jeans is kind of her style and his band is actually pretty cool. Suddenly, hitting rock bottom feels oddly uplifting. Could rocking braces and glasses be the best thing ever to happen to her?

 

I love this book so much! It is funny and interesting and leaves you with so many,” Oh. Didn’t see that one coming” I would rate this book 5***** I would recommend this book to anyone who likes drama and school stories. Why not read it. Try it out. Trust me once  you start reading you will never want to stop.