Monthly Archives: February 2017

Feb
16
2017

Evil Spy School, by Stuart Gibbs

Posted by

Evil Spy School is about a kid named Ben Ripley who goes to a spy school and an evil spy school, called SPYDER. The two schools are rivals. Ben fought in two wars with one of the schools. Evil spy school is located toward the bottom of Florida in a secret campus were only people who have permission slips are allowed to get out of the campus. Spy school is located toward the top of Florida and it is not as secret as SPYDER. This is the third book in the series so I recommend to read the first and second one that is called Spy School and Spy Camp.

Ben is brave, good at math, and gullible. Ben is good at math because he says it is a skill of his. He is brave because he goes to evil spy school not knowing he was sent there on purpose. He is gullible because he does the math to pinpoint a target for accuracy to fire the missile. He was tricked into doing math by SPYDER. Ben is not funny so do not expect this book to be funny. No one he meets is funny either.

One of the most interesting parts is that Ben gets expelled on purpose to go to SPYDER to find out information about what their plan is. He got expelled by blowing up the principal’s office. Another interesting part is that Ben discovers new stuff like that Sandy Hook (a beach) was a spot to keep missiles. Another thing he discovers is that the Statue of Liberty is a spot where the army watched over the city. The stuff he discovers is not true in real life so do not try them or look for them ever. At least I do not think they are real.


I enjoyed this book because Ben met new people on the way and all their personalities were different. I also enjoyed this book because Ben is a surprising character. You never know what he is going to do. I would recommend this book because if I am writing a book review on it, it would mean I like it. I also would recommend this book because Ben and his friends are not funny so it makes it more serious. This book did not remind me of Steve Harvey because Steve is a comedian for a TV show. It reminds me of the army when they are in war because they would be really serious. I would rank it, four and a half stars.

Feb
16
2017

Dork Diaries: Tales from a Not-So-Smart Miss Know It All , by Rachel Renee Russell

Posted by

In this book the main character is a girl named Nikki. The main plot in this book is that sometimes the main character makes bad decisions and then needs to fix them. Also after she made the bad decision she has a hard time fixing it. For example at a sleepover she got dared to do something that was crazy and she actually did it. In this book it takes place in probably 2017. I think that it takes place in 2017 because she has a portable  phone. She maybe lives in the suburbs because a girl that Nikki is not friends with has a back yard.

The main character is sometimes very unmotivated, busy, and concerned.

Nikki is unmotivated a lot because she makes a problem and then tries to fix and it does not work and she gets really unmotivated and does not want to try again. For example Nikki tries to get a job working at the school and does not get it. After that she just gave up. Luckily her friends made her go back. Nikki is also busy because she is always dealing with a problem or an activity. In the book she has a problem with the girl she does not like and then that got her into a busy job. Nikki is concerned a lot because she is trying to fix one of her problems and she does not know what is going to happen.

In the book I found it interesting that she thought all the exercises she had to do for PE were not what they were supposed to be. For example she thought a curl up was curling her hair. Something that is important to the story is that her friends are really supportive. That is important because if her friends were not supportive she would not fix her problems because she would just give up. In the book it is also important that Nikki has an arch-nemesis. I think this is really important because if she didn’t she probably would not have as many problems. Also almost every problem she has her arch-nemesis is in it.

I enjoyed this book so, so much. In almost every chapter something makes me laugh hysterically. In one chapter she told a man she was going to the bathroom and then came back quickly because she really did not have to go. When she came back, he wondered why she was back so quickly when she said she was going to the bathroom. Another funny thing is that in one of the chapters a cat attacked her. You did not see it coming at all. Also in the book the main character Nikki is a lot like Greg in Diary of a Wimpy Kid. I think this because they are both getting themselves into big problems. In Diary of a Wimpy Kid, Greg and his brother don’t always get along. In Dork Diaries it is the same but Nikki has a little sister. I would really recommend this book because it is so funny and there is always something happening. If I had to rate this book I would give it five stars because I would love to read it again.  

 

  

Feb
16
2017

The War that Saved my Life, by Kimberly Brubaker Bradley

Posted by

 

This review has spoilers so if you don’t want the book spoiled don’t read this review. I read “The War that Saved my Life” by Kimberly Brubaker Bradley. This is the story of ten-year-old Ada, who has never been allowed to leave her one room apartment. Her abusive mother is too embarrassed to let her go outside because of her clubfoot. She cooks, takes care of her six-year-old brother Jamie, and sees the outside world only through a window. When Jamie is shipped out of London to escape the war, Ada decides to leave with him, without telling her mother. When they arrive in the countryside, Ada and Jamie are sent to live with a woman named Susan Smith. With Susan, Ada is able to go outside, learn how to read and write, and is taken care of. The setting of the book is London and Kent, England in 1939, during World War II.

Ada Smith is determined, caring, and imaginative. She is determined because she teaches herself to walk so she can escape from London with her brother, Jamie, despite the physical pain this causes her. Ada also teaches herself to ride Susan’s horse, Butter, when she moves to the country. Ada is caring because she has been her brother’s caretaker and protector since he was born. She is imaginative because she when she feels scared or unsafe, Ada escapes by transporting herself to another place in her mind.

One of the most enjoyable parts of the book is when Ada rescues her neighbor Margaret, who had fallen off her horse. I found this interesting because Margaret, who is wealthy and well-educated, had looked down on Ada when she first arrived as a poor evacuee from London. The girls eventually become friends after Ada returns Margaret home safely. It was also interesting when Mam came to collect Ada and Jamie from Susan’s house in the country. Mam had been abusive to the children when they lived with her.  She had also never replied to any of Susan’s letters, so it was shocking when she arrived.

I enjoyed reading “The War That Saved My Life”. It was entertaining because there was a happy ending. When Ada and Jamie’s mother came to collect them from Susan’s house, it seems like they have to return forever to a life of abuse and neglect with their mother. The book ends happily when Susan comes to London to rescue the children from their mother. I also learned about World War II in an interesting way by reading the book. I wouldn’t typically choose historical fiction, but this book is a page turner. I recommend this book because it keeps the reader’s attention and is hopeful. Ada reminds me of Anne Frank because of her bravery. I would give this book 5 stars.

 

Feb
16
2017

Jurassic Park by Michael Crichton

Posted by

Jurassic Park by Michael Crichton fits its name perfectly. This is because this book is about a park that recreates animals from the Jurassic period. What kind of animals am I talking about? DINOSAURS!!! There are a lot of characters in Jurassic Park. The characters are (and some were, I mean that some of the characters died) Dr. Grant and Dr. Sattler. They are both paleontologists. There is John Hammond who runs the whole park, and his scientist Dr. Wu. There is the lawyer who is part of Ingene. Ingene is an evil corporation that wants to steal the dinosaurs. His name is Genaro. There is an inspector named Malcolm who is figuring out if the park is safe for visitors. He is a scientist that studies chaos theory. Then there is Tim and Lex who are John Hammond’s kids. And Ed Regis who is a scientist who is helping the kids. Jurassic Park  tells the story of an experiment to bring life back to the dinosaurs, a miraculous discovery. But the electric fences have been turned off and the Dinosaurs escape. They start breeding and that slowly leads to the end of the island. Or at least that is my prediction. Set on a tropical island, somewhere near Costa Rica, Jurassic Park takes place in a dangerous park that is filled with bloodthirsty dinosaurs.

 

Dr. Grant is very intelligent and knows all about dinosaurs. He survived in tough situations, like when the electric fences turned off and they were stuck in the car right next to the tyrannosaur exhibit. The tyrannosaur destroyed the car killing some of the main characters, but Alan Grant survived by not moving a muscle. The dinosaur couldn’t see him while he stood still so the tyrannosaur roared, trying to scare Grant and make him move, but Grant didn’t move, and he and the kids escaped. The plot of the book is that John Hammond hires a lot of people to do all the engineering and complex computers. One person (who dies eventually) who works with the big computer turns off all the power so the electric fences go out and the dinosaurs escape. This person is Dennis Nedry, who is bribed by Dodgson, the founder of Biocon, (an evil corporation competing with Ingene). Alan Grant finds the eggshell of a velociraptor, which means they are breeding, even though Wu has made all the dinosaurs female. When the dinosaurs escape, the velociraptors, the most dangerous dinosaurs, escape.

 

IF YOU DO NOT WANT FOR ME TO SPOIL THE BOOK DO NOT READ THIS PART.

 

They kill some of our characters John Arnold who works with the computers, Dennis Nedry (the guy who let the dinosaurs out) trying to steal the dinosaur DNA, and Henry Wu. Then the velociraptors trap Ellie Sattler, Muldoon, Henry Wu, (before he dies) John Hammond and Ian Malcolm, who is badly injured. When the velociraptors are about to chew through the final bar, Tim, Lex, Grant and Gennaro turn the power back on. The velociraptors go for Grant, Tim, Lex and Gennaro but I will tell you about that  later with Grant and his great plan.

 

YOU CAN READ ON NOW.

 

I LOVED Jurassic Park!!!  It was so full of action and suspense. I loved the part where the energy was turned off and the T-Rex got loose in the middle of the night, with the tour car right in front of his exhibit. The other part that I LOVED was when Grant had this awesome plan. Grant, Tim, Lex and Gennaro were cornered in the hatchery so Gennaro, Tim and Lex hid while Grant got the poison that was in the hatchery. Grant put the poison inside the dinosaur’s eggs. Then he rolled them toward the velociraptors. They ate the eggs and then saw Grant. They all headed for Grant when one of the three velociraptor’s mouth started foaming with bubbles. There was a chain reaction and they all died. But before the last one perished it nearly nicked Grant’s chest.

I recommend this book greatly to anyone who doesn’t get scared of blood and enjoys dramatic things. And you need to be able to stick to this book because it is a long book and it has some lengthy passages that may be boring about dinosaur DNA that you might not understand. There are not really much connections to my life in this book because this book is fantasy. I have never read a book that talks so much about the DNA of dinosaurs, to keep track of them and to keep them under control. Actually I have never really read a bloody dramatic book that has dinosaurs in it! I would rate Jurassic park… FIVE stars. Yes, I loved this book. It had all the qualities of a book that I would want to read. And of course I would really want to read this book again. Sure it may take a while, but Jurassic Park was amazing. You should read it. If you have the Jurassic instinct that is!

Feb
16
2017

Gods of Manhattan, By Scott Mebus

Posted by

Gods of Manhattan is about a boy named Rory and his little sister, Bridget. Rory gets drawn into this world of monsters and gods and all parts ancient Manhattan tied together. There are two stories going on at the same time. It has lots of twists and turns in the story. It makes you feel like you’re actually in the situation that Rory is in.

 

Rory is easily distracted like when he is underwater he thinks he should stay underwater.  Rory is intelligent. He makes good decisions. He is caring, everything he does the in second half is for his sister. Can a dead alligator float? This book answers all of the questions like that. One of my favorite parts was when Fritz and Clarence used Hamish as a boat. Hamish is a dead alligator used to escape Tobias in the bank.  This book is all about how much people have forgotten about old Manhattan and I think it’s amazing. In Chapter 17 there’s an amazing part where Burr makes the decision that changes everything…

 

I loved the book, it was very surprising in some ways. There were times when I wasn’t expecting the book to go that way. Plus, it was very historically accurate: the gangs were real gangs, but still fiction. I’d recommend this for people who enjoy history and action. This book blends three genres together, historical fiction, fantasy, and adventure. On a 1-5 star rating, I would give this book a 20-star rating, it was that good.

 

Feb
16
2017

Chasing Vermeer, by Blue Balliett

Posted by

 

Where’s Vermeer’s A Lady Writing?

I read the book Chasing Vermeer by Blue Balliett over early January. It is set in in Chicago, Illinois and the time period is probably recent past. Calder Pillay and Petra Andalee are searching for a famous painting by the artist Johannes Vermeer, named A Lady Writing. They start to see things that the professional investigators can’t see. Also, in the illustrations there is a hidden pentomino code, as Calder is obsessed with pentominoes and they help him figure out some clues. If you didn’t know, pentominoes (they are usually in the form of a little plastic chip) are 5 equal squares put together to make 12 different letters of the alphabet. They are: F, I, L, N, P, T, U, V, W, X, Y, and Z.

 

Calder Pillay and Petra Andalee are super curious and can make connections easily. Petra and Calder use Calder’s pentominoes to randomly discover clues, like when they use their pentominoes to figure out something is hidden in Delia Dell Hall, nicknamed Delia Dell. This is a good skill for them and it has led them to many conclusions. They are curious because they decide to take the matter of the theft into their own hands. They’re also really good at seeing things that other people cannot see in this theft. They figured out where A Lady Writing was and nobody else could figure it out. There are many decisions that are made by Calder and Petra that are really influential to the story. For example, they have to decide if they want to tell Ms. Hussey (their 6th Grade teacher) about their investigation or if they want to open Mrs. Sharpe’s mail, big events that change their investigation or trust with other characters.

 

I absolutely loved the book. I thought it was really fast paced. I love how Petra and Calder are made fun of by their classmate (because they spend so much time together) by saying that they are boyfriend and girlfriend and how they eventually come to not care about her words, move past it and move forward with their investigation. I loved the chapter about Halloween. Petra dresses up like a lady from her dream, which Calder has seen before, which is also the lady in A Lady Writing. Super coincidental, or is it?

 

I recommend this book so much. If you like good mysteries with a good clever touch (like the hidden code in the illustrations), then this is the book for you. It is really full of action. There is a little bit of violence and an injury so I wouldn’t recommend this book for littler kids. I love art and before I read this book I didn’t know who Vermeer was, but now I am excited to see his other works.

 

My rating of this book is (drumroll, please):

Five stars. Amazing book. Really well written. It includes some beautiful and interesting language.

 

Feb
16
2017

Coraline, by Neil Gaiman.

Posted by

My book is called Coraline and the author is Neil Gaiman. The main character in my books name is Coraline, she likes to explore. Coraline has a great house it is so big and spacey, so her house is definitely the right place to explore. My book takes place in Littlemead, England in 1987. The house is very colorful, the colors of the house are are purple and white.

Coraline is an explorer she is determined and smart. She is an explorer because she likes to go looking around, some of her neighbors said not to go to the well but she still did. She is determined because she wants to get her parents back from her other mother. She is smart because she is careful and cares, she won’t let anyone touch her if there strangers.

Two parts of this story I enjoyed were when Coraline wrote a story it was about a girl named Apple she loved to dance and then her feet turned into sausages. The other part is when the other mother ate the black beetles out of a little bag.

I really enjoyed this book because I like books that are scary interesting and like when there is a lot of exploring. I definitely recommend this book it’s never boring so that is why. I think Harry Potter is kinda like this book, because they explore and they don’t get paid attention to that much. I would rate this book a five out of one to five stars!

Feb
16
2017

PAX by Sara Pennypacker

Posted by

Pax by Sara Pennypacker is a book about a kid named Peter and Peter’s fox Pax. Peter had to leave Pax in the woods before he moved to his grandpa’s house. Peter leaves his grandpa’s house and goes looking for his Fox. The book switches perspectives from Peter and Pax. The book takes place in the woods.

Many things happen to the characters like hurting themselves. Peter does hurt himself in the book which makes things harder. Hopes come and go during the book. A war is coming and Peter’s dad went to serve the army. Peter had to walk over 100 miles to get to Pax. Peter was not ready for how far he had to walk for he did not bring all the things he needs. He finds that he should have brought more things than he did. Pax meets other foxes and they help him survive. Peter and Pax are both determined and persistent to find each other.

I enjoyed this book a lot because you get to see how the characters run into problems then how they try to get around it. I would recommend this book if you like adventure because the characters have to go very far to find each other and a lot of things happen when they look for each other. When reading the book I found out how much people can love animals. If I was going to rate this book from 1 to 5 I would rate it a five.

Feb
16
2017

Who Was Leonardo da Vinci by Roberta Edwards

Posted by

The book I read was “Who was Leonardo da Vinci?” by Roberta Edwards. It takes place between 1452 and 1519 in Italy with Leonardo as the main character. Leonardo was a real artist in the time of 1452 and 1519. Leonardo’s main problem was that he had great inventions and ideas, but not a lot of them worked. For example, his pair of wings did not turn out successfully.

 

Leonardo was very creative. He drew different things he wanted to create like his pairs of wings. He liked to He liked to make things in his free time. Some of these were very complex so you had to be intelligent to make them as well as to use them. Leonardo chose to adopt a little child named Giacomo, whom he spoiled to no end. I bet Leonardo’s life would have been different if that had not happened. Since Leonardo was spoiling him he probably spent some money for him and maybe if he did not use that money  he could’ve have put it to good use. The book stated that “Leonardo was not the only popular artist around that time. There were two others. Their names were Raphael and Michelangelo.” Michelangelo and Leonardo really did not like each other but on the other hand, Raphael was a big fan of Leonardo.
I really liked this book for its inventions. I also liked the story and the main character. I highly recommend this book because it is really interesting and hard to put down once started. The book also appeals to people who enjoy art and its history. My rating is 4 and a half stars.

Feb
16
2017

I, Freddy by Dietlof Reiche

Posted by

 

“The time has come.

“Enrico and Caruso, the guinea pigs, have settled down at last, old William the tomcat has retired to his blanket for the night, and Mr. John has gone out.

“Now it is the time to make a start on my life story….”

Those were the first words (and last) of I, Freddy, book one in the Golden Hamster Saga by Dietlof Reiche! This book is about a golden hamster named Freddy who wants to learn to read and write, but he runs into some problems I won’t tell you about… you’ll have to read the book. The main characters are Freddy, (hence the name “I, Freddy”) Sophie, (the girl who takes care of Freddy… temporarily) Sir William, (the civilized tomcat) Mr. John, (takes care of Freddy after Sophie does) and Enrico and Caruso (the guinea pig poets). I don’t know the country it’s in or anything, but it takes place in Sophie’s house and Mr. John’s house. It also probably takes place in the past, but not very far because Mr. John has a typewriter, but then he gets a computer.

 

Freddy is really smart because he learns to read books and write on a Macintosh computer. He’s also really sneaky because he made Sophie give him a pencil and then used it to get out of his cage. He’s also a risk-taker because when he gets out of his cage he goes into Sophie’s mom’s room (her mom is allergic to fur). Freddy wants to read and write. The learning part was actually pretty easy for him, but when he sees the typewriter he wants to communicate with humans via the typewriter. The problem is that the cat, Sir William, can help Freddy but won’t because the former doesn’t like the prospect of communicating with humans. I liked when Sir William and Freddy were talking about maybe Sir William helping him type and SW says, “If I lost a claw, I would lose my identity.” And Freddy says, “You’d lose your what?” And SW says, “My identity. I wouldn’t be myself anymore. Even a civilized tom is still a tom, but a clawless tom is just a pussycat.” Freddy goes back to Sophie’s place, but he wants to stay at Mr. John’s, so he hides in Mr. John’s bag and then goes into hiding in his house. But, obviously he can’t stay hiding in Mr. John’s house, so SW agrees to help Freddy communicate with Mr. John, to let him know Freddy’s there.

 

I really liked this book because it kind of stands out with the other chapter books I’ve read. Those have been action packed and agreeably violent; this book’s more like “oh, Freddy wants to read and write, but he needs to figure out how” (trust me, the second book has way more action). I would recommend this book for people who like animals and reading. Also, if you like the book, it’s a series, so you can keep reading about Freddy Auratus the golden hamster!!! I think the book is fiction. A connection to another book would be the Moomin books because the Moomins look like animals, but they talk and interact with humans.

My rating of the book is:

⭐⭐⭐⭐☆= I really liked it!!!
I give this book 4 out of 5 stars.