Monthly Archives: February 2016

Feb
24
2016

The Sorcerer’s Secret by Scott Mebus

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The series my book is in is called, The Gods Of Manhattan and it’s called Sorcerer’s Secret. It is by Scott Mebus and it is the 3rd book in the series. The main characters are Bridget and Rory Hennessy. But there are many other secondary characters. Rory and Bridget are trying to save Mannahatta from an evil god named William Kieft and his spirits that want to kill all the gods in Mannahatta. Rory and Bridget try to kill him by exposing his deep dark secret that no one knows but him. This book takes place in Inwood, Manhattan and the time period goes from the 1600s – 2008.

One big event that happens is when Rory decides between killing Kieft or saving his mom from death. This was important because his mom means the world to him but if he doesn’t kill Kieft, all good gods and good spirits will die. If the good gods and good spirits die, then the normal people will have no protection from evil. One part I found most important in The Sorcerer’s Secret is when Bridget sees her dad for the first time. This is important because it is amazing that since she was born, her dad ran away, then when she was 9 years old she saw her dad for the first time and later on in the book something very important happened around her dad. One part I also found the most interesting was when Rory finds out his dad’s name. This was interesting because his dad is/was so famous but you would never think that that was his dad. It surprised me that his dad’s name was _______because out of every person in the world, I would NEVER guess that that was his name.

Rory is brave, happy, and angry. Rory is brave because he almost died for his sister to protect her. Rory is also brave because he does not let people push him around. Rory is happy because his family reunited with each other. Rory is also happy because he is a optimist. Rory is angry because someone tries to kill his mother and he loves his mother with all his life. Rory is also angry at his father but also filled with love for his father because he didn’t know his father for a long time and was just getting to know him when he died. “I forgive you, too,” he whispered down his father’s ear “I love you,” and then his father died in Rory’s hands.

I really enjoyed this book because it is a action book. I also enjoyed it because it is about a boy in fourth grade and you can relate to him. I would definitely recommend this book because it makes you want to jump right into the next page. I also would definitely recommend this book because it is a trilogy and it will consume time (if you read quickly) A few books and movies like this are the Percy Jackson series/movie, the Harry Potter series/movie, and The City Of Ember series/movie. It is like these books/movies because they are all action adventures and friendship stories. I would give this book 5 stars ★★★★★ because it is SO good I would actually consider reading it 100 times!  

Feb
24
2016

Ratburger

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995468606The book I read for this book reivew is called Ratburger, by David Walliams. The main characters in this book are Zoe (a twelve year old girl), Armitage (a rat), and Burt (a burger vender). What Zoe is trying to change is Burt is taking all the rats in the city that he can find to a beat up old building and torturing the rats. Now Armitage is one of them. The setting of the book is the rusty, dusty, apartment in a tall tall building in the middle of the city, that Zoe is living in, along with her dad, and evil stepmother, Sheila, who just wants a roof over her head and cocktail crackers and nothing else to do with the family.

One big event that happened in the story is when Burt is trying to kill all of the rats and Zoe’s dad was about to fall into the machine that Burt was using to kill all of the rats. This event is so important because Zoe, her dad and everyone who was there had to go through the memory, and that is really suspenseful, someone could have died! Another part of the book that was super important is when Zoe was caught for bringing Armitage into school twice and she got a three month suspension. One other important part of the book was when Zoe and her dad made an ice cream truck (from Burt’s van,) and gave out ice cream. This is so important because, you see, Zoe’s dad always dreamed of giving out ice cream — he didn’t care how, he just wanted to.

One adjective to describe Zoe is fearless, because she was scared, but happy about doing it in some parts of the book. An example is when Zoe was rescuing her rat, she was smiling in the picture. Another adjective to describe Zoe is sad, because Sheila locked her in her room and she was sad that she wasn’t going to get out. Another adjective to describe Zoe is smart, because again, when her stepmother locked her in her room, she decided to take off the braces on her teeth and use them to dig a hole in the wall. A quote that helped me understand Zoe better is: “All I care about is Armitage. I have to save him.” Why that helped me understand Zoe better is because it shows that she loves Armitage, and she would do anything for him.

I LOVED the book. I loved every part of Ratburger, but my favorite is when Zoe found her rat’s name. It is a particularly funny story. I also loved the big fight with Zoe’s dad, Zoe, Burt, and Sheila. It was a funny sight in my head because Sheila is chubby, and makes big effort noises to move. I would recommend this book. David Walliams is a really disgusting, but really funny writer, and his books are so touching. I know for a fact that none of David Walliams’ books are like anything else. It is so unique because it is a book of heart, meaning it is — indescribable! And he is such a good writer, I’ve never liked an author so much in my life! He is just so amazing. I would give this book five stars — millions if I could. I hope if you read this book, you will have the same exact reaction as I did.

Feb
24
2016

Diary of a Wimpy Kid Old School by Jeff Kinney

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imgresThe book that I read is called Diary Of A Wimpy Kid Old School. The author is Jeff Kinney. This book is part of a series called Diary Of A Wimpy Kid.  I have read some of other books in this series. The main character in this book is named Greg and a lot of unlucky stuff happens to him. He is in middle school and has two brothers, a mom and a dad, and a lot of friends. This book takes place on a farm and in the town’s park it’s in the school year. The story is about a normal kid just living his life.

The main problem for the main character in this book is that he’s stuck at a farm that he hates. Greg keeps trying to escape but he keeps failing. One really interesting part in the book was when Greg brought baby wipes to the farm. I think this is funny because baby wipes are for babies not for middle schoolers. Another thing that was interesting was when Greg’s dad made up the story of Silas Scratch because he wanted a shed with a workable toilet all to himself. Silas Scratch is a made up story about a farmer that lost his farm land so he grew really long nails and that is why his last name is Scratch. This was interesting because Greg was really scared of Silas Scratch.

Greg is determined because Greg kept on trying to get out of the farm but never could until it was over. Greg is also brave because he went in the woods at night to get firewood. Greg is also unlucky because everything he tries not to do, he does. “Don’t break the car,” Greg says to himself and then ten minutes later, “Dad’s going to kill me, I broke his car!”

I enjoyed this book because it was really funny and I really like funny books. It had a mystery and I love mysteries. I recommend this book because it’s a book that both girls and boys would enjoy because it’s really funny. This book reminds me of Diary of a Wimpy Kid the movie because it’s basically the same thing. I would rate this book 5 STARS!

Feb
24
2016

Who was Muhammad Ali? By James Buckley Jr

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I am reading the book “Who Is Muhammad Ali” by James Buckley Jr. which is part of the “Who Was” series. The book is about Muhammad Ali, the world’s greatest heavyweight boxer. He is famous for his great boxing skills. He was born January 17, 1942 and is now 74.

One big event was when he changed his religion from Christianity to Muslim. His original name was Cassius Clay but when he switched religions, he changed it to Muhammad Ali. It was a big event because the christian fans were angry with him. More importantly, he refused to be drafted because he didn’t believe in the Vietnam war. Muhammad Ali was convicted for refusing to go to the war and had to give up his championship belt and boxing until the court dismissed the case. One of his biggest fights was against George Foreman in Zaire, Africa. He wanted to earn his belt back to regain the heavyweight title which meant he had to beat George Foreman. Ali knocked him out in the 8th round and took back his championship. In 1984, he was 42 years old and diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease which affects the central nervous system. He had trouble speaking and walking and over time his face became frozen. Doctors felt that being hit in the head so many times caused the Parkinson’s disease. This was his new fight.

Muhammad Ali was a super talented boxer. He had 61 professional fights. He won 56 fights and won 37 of them by KO. KO means Knock Out. He was also a bragging poet to all his competitors. Here are  2 of his famous poems. “Float like a butterfly, sting like a bee, his hands can’t hit what his eyes can’t see.” The second one is “I have wrestled an alligator, I have tussled with a whale. I have handcuffed lightning, and put thunder in jail… Only last week, I hospitalized a brick. I’m so mean I made medicine sick.” Muhammad Ali was an activist and a peacemaker. He was on a mission to help the poor and the hungry. Also, after traveling through Africa, he realized that black people were not treated like second class citizens, like many black Americans. Many black Africans held very important jobs. Ali fought for equality in America.

I really enjoyed this book because I like boxing and because Muhammad Ali is a great boxer and funny with his poems. In boxing history, only a few men had ever won back a championship title they had lost. On October 30, 1974, Muhammad Ali did. Muhammad Ali always predicted how many rounds the fights would last and he was usually right. He said this in 1963 against Doug Jones: “Jones likes to mix, So I’ll let it go to six. If he talks jive, I’ll cut it to five. And if he talks some more, I’ll cut it to four!” I would recommend this book because Muhammad Ali was confident, talented, loved the sport and he was passionate about his career. The book teaches you about his life as a boxing champion, a family man and his life as an activist. Muhammad Ali reminds me of Rocky Balboa. Muhammad Ali and Rocky Balboa were both great boxing champions. In 1986, doctors found out that Rocky had suffered significant brain damage from all the blows to the head and in 1984 Ali was diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease. His brain was not making the right connections to some of his muscles anymore. I really enjoyed the book so I give it a rating of four stars. ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Feb
24
2016

Island of the Blue Dolphins by Scott O’Dell

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9780553751758The title of my book is called Island of the Blue Dolphins by Scott O’Dell. The main character’s name is Won-a-pa-lie which means The Girl with Long Black Hair. Her secret name is Karana (she is a Native American). The setting of the book is on an island in the middle of the sea and the time of the book is in the mid-1800s. The main problem in the book is that Karana is living on an island all by herself with no people, just animals. She has to survive all alone, just by the things she remembers.  One big event in the book is when a boat came and took all of her people, including Karana, away from an island (the people from the boat were nice people) and Karana’s tribe brought all of their stuff with them. But her little six year old brother went to get his fishing spear at the last second and the boat left without him. One minute later when the boat had not moved that far away from the island Karana noticed that her brother was not with her. She looked back to the island and there her brother was running on the island to the boat. Karana had to decide if she wanted to stay on the boat with her people and leave her brother behind or jump off of the boat and leave her people to be with her brother. She decided to jump off of the boat and be with her brother. That is important because it changes the whole story and it means that she cares more about her brother then everything else. One part of the book I thought was really interesting was how she made stuff, like her fence and her house. I think that is interesting because she was so creative about what she made it out of because she did not have that much stuff to build with. For example, she made her fence out of whale bones.

One adjective that describes Karana is brave. She is brave because she survived on an island all by herself. Another adjective that describes the main character is skillful. Karana is skillful because she can make a bow and arrow, house, a lamp made out of a fish and a fence made out of whale bones.The last adjective that describes the main character is loving. She is loving because she jumped off of the boat and left everything and everyone she knew and had, to be with her brother.  After Karana jumped off of the boat and swam back to the island to be with her brother. She thought “I felt the sand under my feet and saw him standing at the edge of the waves, holding his fishing spear and looking so forlorn, I forgot all those things I had planned to to do. Instead I fell to my knees and put my arms around him.” This quote/thought makes me understand the main character because it tells me that Karana cares more about her brother than creating a new life at the new island and all of her belongings.

I liked this book because it was very interesting. The parts I found interesting were how she made the things she used to survive, for example, it was interesting how she made a fence, a lamp and weapons.  (It also won a Newbery award so it has to be good). I would recommend this book because I thought it was very interesting. It also grabbed my attention and made me want to read it a lot. This book reminds me of a book called Swiss Family Robinson. The thing that is sort of in common is that the family was shipwrecked and they had to survive on an island by themselves. I would give this book a five star rating!                                                                                                                                                    

Feb
11
2016

Love That Dog

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imgresThe book that I read is Love That Dog by Sharon Creech. The main characters in my book are Jack and Miss Stretchberry.  Jack is a 12-year old boy, and Miss Stretchberry is Jack’s writing teacher. The main problem in this book is that the boy named Jack had to write a poem and he has trouble because his “brain is empty,” and because he thought that writing a poem was for girls. Miss Stretchberry encouraged Jack to write a poem and to not be afraid.  The setting takes place at Jack’s house in the evening and room 105 at his school in Miss Stretchberry’s class.

 

One of the important things in the book is that when Jack said writing poems is for girls he remembered that his favorite poet was a boy/man so then he started writing the poem. The poem Jack wrote was about his new dog. He got the dog at an animal shelter, and when he first saw it, it was like the dog chose him. When he brought it home, he played fetch on the street with the dog and all his friends. They were on the street because barely any cars came down the street and there was a sign that said, “Children Playing,” so they were all safe.  Everyone was having fun until a blue car came out of nowhere and turned onto his street.  What happens next, you have to read yourself.

 

Jack finally did write the poem. Once he was done, he reread it. He liked it, so then he sent his poem to Walter Dean Myers, his favorite poet, to see if he liked it too. Walter Dean Myers didn’t write back right away, and Jack was constantly wondering if Walter Dean Myers would ever write and why he wasn’t writing back.  Two months after Jack sent the letter, Mr. Myers finally wrote back.  He thought Jack’s poem was good. The reason why he wrote back two months after is because Walter Dean Myers had a lot of fan mail. He responds to all the letters and that takes a while.   

 

I enjoyed the book for a few reasons: I liked that it was a poem; I liked the character of the teacher; and I liked that Jack was brave.  The book was set up in a poem way.  I really liked how it wasn’t exactly a poem, it was a book, but it was written in a poem way with short lines and beautiful language.  For example, when a character was sad, the sun started going down and when a character was happy, the sun came up.  Another reason why I liked the book was because of the teacher, Miss Stretchberry. She encouraged Jack to write his poem.  She was sometimes strict but she was supportive. I also liked how Jack was brave. At first he said that writing a poem was for girls and he really didn’t know how to write a poem. All he knew how to do was write short lines. But in the end, he did write one.

I would recommend this book to 3rd graders and 4th graders because of the good vocabulary and because of some beautiful language.  I also think they would really like the poems (there were poems at the end, too).  I give this book 5 stars.

 *****