Monthly Archives: February 2017

Feb
16
2017

The Lost Hero By Rick Riordan.

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I am reading a book called The Lost Hero by Rick Riordan. It is in the Heroes of Olympus series. It is about a boy named Jason, his friend Leo, and Jason’s girlfriend Piper. They are half- bloods. Half god, half human. They go to a camp called Camp Half-Blood. They go on adventures and fight monsters to try and find Percy Jackson. The three go to many places to look for Percy but do not find him. Yet. Greek monsters come to the modern age and it’s up to Jason, Piper, and Leo to stop it.

Jason is brave, confident, and smart. Jason is brave because he accepted the challenge of going on the quest. He is confident because even though he was badly hurt by a venti, or storm spirit, he still fought it. He is smart because he knew he was in danger when the venti came and he knew how to stop it.

Two parts of the book that I found interesting were when Jason, Piper, Leo, Annabeth, and Butch are on a chariot driven by pegasi and one of the wheels catches on fire. I liked this part because it made me stay on my heels and wonder what was going to happen. Another interesting part was when Jason went to the Big House and talked to a goddess. This was interesting because I wasn’t sure what was going to happen to him and it made me want to read more.

I really enjoyed the book. I enjoyed it because it has lots of adventure and action. I also enjoyed it because of the fun surprises. I would really recommend this book because of all the reasons above, the suspense, and the characters. Also, the humor is great. This book reminds me of The Kane Chronicles. It reminds me of it because there are Gods and mythical creatures coming to America. Also in both series all the main characters go on a quest and fight monsters. I would give this book a four star rating. It’s really good.

Feb
16
2017

If I Were You, by Leslie Margolis

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The book I am reading is called If I Were You by Leslie Margolis. This book is set in Malibu in 2016. The book is about two girls, Katie and Melody who wish to redo their summer as each other. Katie wants to be stunning and rich like Melody while Melody wants to have two adorable little brothers like Katie. When their wish comes true they realize the grass may not be quite so green on the other side. In this book, each chapter is from Katie’s or Melody’s point of view.

Melody is friendly, positive and she is sensitive to her friends. She is friendly because whenever she is with Katie’s two younger brothers she always wants to hang out with them even though they can sometimes be demanding and annoying. Often, the brothers wake Katie up at 6:00 am to play superheros. On top of that, the brothers usually fight over who is which superhero. She is positive because whenever something isn’t going well she tries to think on the bright side. Melody is sensitive to her friends because she tries not to do things that hurt her friends feelings and when she does she feels bad.

The book talks a lot about friendship and what to do and what not to do. One of the most important parts of the book is when Katie and Melody get in a fight because Melody kept a big secret from Katie. This moment is important because it explains how friends should not keep secrets from each other because it can impact the friendship in a bad way. Another important moment from the book is when Katie and Melody make the wish to redo their summer as each other. This moment is important because it is the moment that drives the rest of the story.

Personally, I enjoyed this book. I liked how each chapter was from either Katie’s or Melody’s point of view. It made the book more interesting because you got to see through each character’s eyes and experience how Katie or Melody felt. I also enjoyed Katie and Melody’s personalities.They are so different from each other it makes the book more unique. I would recommend this book to people who like realistic fiction and people who liked the movie Jessica Darling’s IT List. This book reminds me of the movie Jessica Darling’s IT List. This movie reminds me of If I Were You because the characters are very alike. For example, Jessica is just like Katie. They both have long brown hair, are stubborn, and have a tomboy sense of style. Secondly, Melody is just like Bridget. They both have curly blonde hair, are popular at school, and have a girly-girl sense of style. I would give this book four stars.

 

Feb
16
2017

The Twits By, Roald Dahl

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This book is called The Twits by Roald Dahl.  It is about a couple who is very mean, silly and ugly.  The main characters are Mrs. Twit and Mr. Twit. They like to do pranks on each other and are very nasty to animals and humans. They can do some very funny things to each other, but they are still married. I think that is how they show their love. This story takes place at Mr. and Mrs. Twit’s home. The book was written in 1980, but it still relevant today.

Mr. Twit is very hairy, dirty, and cruel.  He is hairy because when he has negative thoughts, his hair grows.  Since he has so much hair, Mr. Twit always seems to get food stuck in both his big beard and his gross, crooked teeth. He is dirty because Mr.Twit never uses a napkin and would rather wipe his mouth with his sleeve or his pants.  Mr. Twit is the most cruel character I have ever read about. He creates a plan to cut down the legs of Mrs. Twit’s chair to make her think that she is shrinking.  He also forces monkeys to stand on their heads for days!

One of the most interesting parts of the book is when all of the animals that Mr. Twit tries to hurt glue the house upside down to get back at the Twits. They do this because the Twits are not being nice to them and they want to trick the mean Twits. Another interesting part is when the kids get stuck in the tree with glue and they have to take off their pants to get out.  Mr. Twit thinks that if he puts glue on the tree then birds will get stuck and he can catch them for dinner. The last interesting part is when Mr. Twit puts a frog in Mrs. Twit’s bed. This causes Mrs. Twit to screech at the top of her lungs. Mr. Twit and Mrs. Twit are always trying to outdo each other’s pranks.

This book was a very enjoyable book because I love all the funny stories, and if you like funny pranks then this book is for you.  My favorite part was when the boys were stuck in the tree and they had to take their pants off to get out of the tree. This book was really fun with so many silly parts.  It will make you laugh and you will not want to put it down. You might also want some ideas for pranks and this book will give you a lot of them. The Twits does not remind me of anything because there is nothing like it. I would rate this book five stars because it is one of the best books I have ever read.

 

Feb
16
2017

The War That Saved My Life, by Kimberly Brubaker Bradley

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The War That Saved My Life is about WWII happening in London. Kids had to leave London for their safety because of bombing. They had to go to the countryside and move in with random people. The character the book is focusing on is a girl named Ada Smith. She has a twisted foot and a very cruel mother. The mother keeps Ada locked up in her apartment by herself. Ada sneaks off to the countryside with her little brother Jamie because her mom was being to mean to her. They were forced upon a pretty nice woman named Susan Smith. Then when they all are there they learn to love each other

           Ada Smith is brave, nervous and resilient. She is brave because she was strong enough to sneak away from her mother and walk very far without stopping. She is also brave because she taught herself how to ride a pony. She is nervous because in the book she gets scared, angry or nervous about what other people do. She is resilient because WWII is happening and she is following everything other people say to do, to stay safe.

          One of the most interesting parts in the book is when Ada learns to write because she asks a lot of questions about what words mean. So learning to write might help her to understand those words and it will help her learn to read. Another interesting part of the story is when the villager tells all the other villagers that if they put up black curtains in the night the German spies will not see anything when they come to invade.

           I definitely enjoyed this book because it is a very interesting part of history. Even though Ada Smith is a made up character, kids actually were sent to the countryside to stay with a stranger. It is such an interesting and unique book because of its theme and I have never read a book about WWII. I would definitely recommend book if you like realistic fiction or history books. Ada Smith is unique because she has a clubfoot and she has to survive through WWII. I would give The War That Saved My Life a five star rating because it is so amazing.

 

Feb
16
2017

Diary Of A Wimpy kid Old School By Jeff Kinny

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Diary of a Wimpy Kid Old School is a book about school drama. It is funny, and it has cool characters. It takes place in modern time because they have TV and iPhones. The main character’s name is Greg Heffley. He has a  younger brother and an older brother. His older brother is the troublemaker in the family besides Greg. Greg is spoiled but he does not think he is because of his lifestyle, he is lazy and kind of selfish but that partly makes the book good. This book is about his adventures. Greg mostly has to deal with problems that will get worse in the future. In this book he goes to a camp and has a bad time with the help of cabin mates and bad parents. He ends up surviving camp.

Greg is lazy, a trouble maker, brave,and determined. Greg is lazy and kind of a couch potato because once he tried to stay inside and play video games for an entire summer. He is always a troublemaker because  . He is brave because he traveled through the sewers to go to his friends house. He is determined  because he stayed at camp and didn’t .

I found Greg’s family is interesting. Greg is being lectured by his mom and dad all the time. His dad is always saying “you should get out more,” “When I was your age all I did was play outside” and getting him to play and be a “man.” His mom is always telling him to learn more like “let’s start a reading club!” Or “Why don’t you go outside more it’s a sunny day.”I also thought his friend Rowley is interesting because he is a goody two shoes and can’t have fun with his parents around. They will say, “Rowley Jefferson put that stick down this instant!” Greg always finds a way to get out of a mess, though most of the time he gets in trouble.

This book series I would recommend if you like easy reads, fun stories, and interesting characters. I would rate the series 3 and a half out of 5. I rate this that way because sometimes the series is slow but the characters are fun to learn about. And the characters always have funny reactions to what Greg or others do and there are other characters to learn about in the series.

Feb
16
2017

Poached, by Stuart Gibbs

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Poached by Stuart Gibbs is a fun story about an amazing zoo. Not just any zoo, but Funjungle, the biggest theme park in the world. The story takes place in Texas, around now. Teddy Fitzroy, (the main character), is living at the amazing zoo! As pretty much any average school, there is a bully. And Vance the bully forces Teddy to play a classic prank on Funjungle. Putting ketchup on top of a mannequin’s leg and dropping it into a shark tank was the last thing Teddy needed to be doing. When security of Funjungle caught the boys, they ran for it and Teddy ended up hiding in the koala room. Coincidentally, that night, the koala gets kidnapped. Head of security, already on Teddy’s nerves, is spending valuable time trying to prove he poached the koala. Then Teddy realizes two things, number one  he has been framed, And number two, if no one is going to look for the real koala-napper, Teddy Fitzroy, at age twelve, will have to crack the case himself.      

Three adjectives I would use to describe Teddy would be sneaky, brave, and unsympathetic. I would say he is sneaky because he tries to hide from the police and learn top secret information, that maybe he shouldn’t know. I think Teddy is brave because it takes a lot of gut to sneak around the police, especially when they think you’re the culprit. I also think he is unsympathetic because he pulls a lot of pranks on Funjungle, not realizing how it will effect his beloved zoo, and the people who work there.

I thought the most interesting part of Poached was when the zoo found out who actually stole the koala. This part was interesting to me because the way everyone in the situation acts, reflects a lot about there personality.  If people react nicely, then they might be kind and  sorry for accusing Teddy. If they weren’t sorry and still trying to prove that Teddy was the culprit, than they are stubborn and persistent. Another interesting thing that showed up in this chapter was that people were so honest and showed  what they really felt, even if they were trying to build a reputation.

I definitely enjoyed Poached because it was a fun mystery as well as a thrilling animal book where you really get to know all the characters and creatures. I would recommend this book to animal lovers and mystery lovers. Teddy Fitzroy is unique in the way that he loves animals, lives in a zoo, and came back from a recent trip to Congo, Africa. I would give Poached 5 stars because of the book plot and unique setting and characters.

Feb
16
2017

Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, by J.K. Rowling

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The book is about a kid named Harry Potter who has a scar from Lord Voldemort,  very powerful wizard who also killed his parents who were also very powerful. The main characters are Harry Potter, Ron Weasley and Hermione Granger. The story takes place in London and Hogwarts. The Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry is divided into four houses, each bearing the last name of its founder: Godric Gryffindor, Helga Hufflepuff, Rowena Ravenclaw and Salazar Slytherin. It is located in the Highlands of Scotland.

Harry is brave, caring, intelligent, a fast thinker and lucky. Harry is brave because he faces Voldemort, the man who killed his parents. I  think Harry is caring because he always helps someone when they need it. Harry is also caring because he always thinks about others before himself. I think Harry is intelligent because he is very good at figuring things out when he needs to. I think that Harry is a fast thinker because when he’s in danger and all else fails he will come up with something and get out of there. Harry is lucky because when he is in danger someone or something will help him like in the Chamber Of Secrets when he was battling the basilisk and Fawkes came in and gave him a sword.

An important event in this book was when Hagrid finally got out of Azkaban. Which is a place that is pretty much escape proof guarded by scary demons called Dementors. This is important because Hagrid really helps Harry, Hermione and Ron and now he’s back as a teacher that teaches about animals and how to take care of them. I found the most interesting part of the book was when Neville changed Professer Snape into a boggart and then everyone had to say their greatest fear to confuse the boggart until it was so confused it exploded. A boggart is a shape shifter that usually lurks in dark spaces. I found this interesting because it made me laugh so much and I just couldn’t stop reading the book and the book just kept on pulling me in.

I enjoyed this book because as I said before, I enjoy this genre and it was very enjoyable. I like the parts that are appropriate but still enjoyable. Another reason I would recommend this book because it is funny. One of those parts was when they went to Hagrid’s class and they had to take care of a slug. It also has amazing scenes even though it is a book and there are no pictures but you can still imagine amazing pictures. I think this book relates to Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them. I think that they are alike because they are both magical adventures and action packed. I’ll give this book a good four stars. Four stars = I really liked it. As a fun fact I learned that there is a theme park for Hogwarts in Universal Studios in Florida.

 

Feb
16
2017

PAX By Sara Pennypacker and Jon Klassen

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The book I read was Pax by Sara Pennypacker and it is illustrated by Jon Klassen. It is realistic fiction and there are some nice illustrations. This book is about a boy named Peter who has a pet fox named Pax. They are inseparable, but when Peter’s father goes off to war, he forces Peter to abandon Pax in in the forest. The story starts as Peter drives to the forest and leaves Pax. Then Peter has to live with his grandfather while his father is fighting in the war. Peter realizes it was wrong to leave Pax and decides to go on a journey to find him. The main characters are Peter, Pax, some foxes that Pax meets, and a later, a character that Peter meets: Vola. Pax is set in modern times. It is set in a very big forest, Vola’s farm, and the road to the forest where Pax is while Peter is trying to find him.

In this book Peter is the main character. Peter is brave, determined, and strong. He is brave because he went on the journey alone. The journey is dangerous and he does not think he will have help. He is determined because he knows he will find Pax no matter what. He even wants to keep looking for him when he breaks his leg. He is strong because he gets hurt a lot, for example, breaking his leg and he never cries.

After Peter breaks his leg Vola finds him and takes Peter to her farm to help him. Peter is there for a lot of the book. Breaking his leg causes him to live at the farm for a while and that is why it is an important event. Another interesting part of this book is when Pax first meets the other foxes. It makes the reader want to learn more about the foxes, but the reader can’t learn more about the foxes right at that time because the chapter is over. This is because in this book each chapter switches from Pax’s perspective to Peter’s perspective. For example, in the chapter Pax meets the foxes the reader will be reading about Pax and the foxes but the next chapter will be about Peter.

I enjoyed the book because it was suspenseful. I also liked this book because it was hard to know what was going to happen next. For example, I never knew Peter would break his leg and someone would find him and take him to live at a farm. I would recommend this book because it is an adventure, but it does have some violence. Sometimes the violence can be a little intense. Also the pictures are really pretty. Pax has 276 pages so it probably won’t take too long to finish. Pax reminds me of The Good Dinosaur, because in that movie, Arlo, the main character, is far from home on a journey to to get back home. Arlo has a pet Spot, who he loves. Spot reminds me of Pax because he is the main character’s best friend. Arlo the dinosaur reminds me of Peter because they are both main characters on a long journey. Then Arlo meets some T-rex’s who help Arlo get home and they let Arlo and Spot stay with them. The T-rex’s remind me of  Vola because Vola helps Peter and they help Arlo. The T-rex’s help Arlo get home and they let Arlo and Spot stay with them. The T-rex’s remind me of Vola because Vola helps Peter and the T-rex’s help Arlo. I would rate this book 4 stars.

Feb
16
2017

Crenshaw, by Katherine Applegate

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Crenshaw is about a boy, Jackson, in a not so wealthy family who is having some rough times but when he meets a old friend, the rough times get a lot more interesting.When he meets Crenshaw, his old imaginary friend who has come back to Jackson for a reason that Jackson is trying to figure out. Jackson’s parents were forced to move out of their house because they couldn’t pay the rent.

I think that Jackson is very silly, smart, and also really nice. He is silly because who’s imaginary friend would be a surf boarding, skate boarding, and extremely smart cat for a imaginary friend!? He is smart because one he is very good with building and he really wants to be a scientist when he grows up (also when their was a raccoon in the house, he was the one who got it out when everyone was freaking out!). And last but not least he is nice because when his sister woke him up at one in the morning because she couldn’t fall asleep, (this happened about five times throughout the whole book) he just went into her room and read her her favorite book, Lyle.

One night Jackson is playing a made up game called cereal bowl and Jackson sees a giant cat that is jet-skiing which confuses Jackson because he thought that he was way past his imaginary friend. The next night Jackson heard splashing in the bathroom so he decided to check what was going on in there at that late hour. He peeked in, and it was Crenshaw. And from then on, Crenshaw and Jackson have been hanging out more and more and Jackson has been learning more and more about Crenshaw and realizes more and more about how much Jackson needs Crenshaw.

This book is a very interesting book. It is really full of curiosity because it has so many different topics in the book. The reason that I really liked this book because it really changes topic a lot which is really nice because it really it always makes you wonder what is going to happen next. If I had to pick a one to five rate with stars, I would give this book four and a half  stars because of how much it makes you wonder about that jet skiing cat. 

Feb
16
2017

Super Fudge by Judy Blume  

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Super Fudge is a fantastic book. It’s set in the 1980’s about a boy named Peter who has a little brother who they call Fudge and a new little sister called Tootsie. Judy Blume has many books in the series like Tales of A Fourth Grade Nothing, Double Fudge and so on. Peter, the main character, thinks his life is already bad when his parents knew for two months that they were going to have a baby! Now he realizes that for a year his family is moving to Princeton. Peter is a boy who has a best friend named Jimmy Fargo, and has a dog named Turtle. He named it after the one turtle that he got at Jimmy Fargo’s birthday party that got eaten by his little brother Farley, who is called Fudge by his family. You never know what’s to come in these books!

Peter is funny, easily annoyed, and a confusing person. He is funny because he loves to make jokes like making a big deal of everything. He is easily annoyed because of his little brother who is always up to something. For example, announcing to the whole school that the principal is fat (not exactly in those exact words but he did kind of did say that). He is confusing because in the book he keeps on saying he’s going to run away, but he never does.

The book is so exciting, there’s so many things to share! Some of the most important and interesting parts I thought were when Tootsie, a new family member got born in the book, because it made the story so much more exciting! (With the little brother called Fudge and the little sister called Tootsie, maybe they wanted to own a candy factory?  Another interesting thing I thought was at the end of the school year in Princeton a special drawing guest came in named Brain Tumkin who was going to call someone up to describe a person, with their features. At the end Brain Tumkin will end up drawing that person. Peter’s little brother came up and described the fat principal using the word fat, Mr. Green, for the special guest. Poor Peter, he almost got humiliated to death! I thought that was interesting because doing what Fudge did doesn’t usually happen regularly. The last fun, interesting part I thought was when Peter told his dog to sic his enemy Sheila Tubman because he knows she doesn’t like dogs. When his dog started to chase her and lick her, she started to cry and complained to the doorman that Peter wanted his dog to sic her, even though she doesn’t know what sic means!

I really enjoyed this book. All the characters make the whole book so exciting. I think it’s funny that Peter is a calm nice brother, when his little brother is so crazy! For example Fudge was playing hide and go seek with his little sister who is 3 months old, and hides her in a closet for a long time and just leaves her there till his parents ask him where she is. In a different book in the series, Fudge ate Peter’s turtle. He literally ate the turtle! If you are searching for a book to read, this book is a great one. It is  SO funny, every book in the series has little crazy parts, and lots more! If you like Diary of A Wimpy Kid I would say the two books are kind of related. In both books the main character has a friend. In Super Fudge Peter has a friend named Jimmy Fargo. In Diary of A Wimpy Kid his friend is Rowley. In Super Fudge He has a enemy called Sheila Tubman, in Diary of A Wimpy Kid he has an enemy, his older brother. In Super Fudge he has a really annoying brother called Fudge. In Diary of A Wimpy Kid he has a sometimes annoying brother named Manny. If I were to rate this book I would give it 5 stars.

Hope you liked reading!