Monthly Archives: May 2017

May
04
2017

Holes, by Louis Sachar

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I read a book called Holes, by Louis Sachar. It is about a boy named Stanley Yelnats who goes to an illegal camp called Camp Green Lake for being falsely accused of stealing  Clyde ‘Sweet Feet’ Livingston’s shoes. I won’t spoil who takes the shoes, but, it is someone at camp Green Lake. It is set in Texas in modern times but part of the story is in the recent and not as recent past. The other kids at CGL are Rex, “X-ray”, Hector, “Zero”, Theodore, “Armpit”, Ricky, “Zigzag”Magnet, Squid, and Twitch. The counselors are Mr. Sir, The Warden, Mr. Pendanski, and a whole lot of other unnamed counselors.

 

Stanley is nice, smart, and brave. He is nice because he taught Zero how to read and write. Stanley is smart because he remembered the story of Kissin’ Kate Barlow from many years ago. He is brave because he took the blame for stealing Mr. Sir’s sunflower seeds even though he really didn’t.

 

One interesting part of the book was when Stanley went to The Warden’s office for “stealing” Mr. Sir’s sunflower seeds. This was interesting because it kept me on my heels wondering if he would get severely punished, or just merely punished. Every Kid there got the same stuff. A canteen, a hole, a shower, same punishments.For example, a mere punishment is, no shower. A severe punishment is, extra holes to dig. A second part was when Zero and Stanley get stranded in the middle of the desert. This was interesting because they almost died a bunch of times. One important quote was when Stanley said “The forty-fifth hole is the hardest.” This is important because it tells you how hard it was to dig holes.

 

I really enjoyed the book because it has lots of action and suspense that makes you want to read more. I would recommend this book because it has action, adventure, and suspense. This book reminds me of The Mixed-Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler because there are two friends out alone and they are solving a mystery. I still think Holes is way deeper because Stanley and Zero are fighting for their lives. I would give this book a five star rating.

May
04
2017

Ghost, By Jason Reynolds

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The book I read is called Ghost. It takes place around now in a small neighborhood. It is by Jason Reynolds. The main character is named Ghost (Castle). He loves basketball but finds himself on a track team. Ghost finally has something to take his mind off of his dark past. One night, Ghost is in his bedroom sleeping when his mom comes in screaming for him to go. When he is running down the hallway with his mom, he sees his dad with a pistol pointing at him. That was the night Ghost learned to run. Several years later, Ghost is on a track team, considered a newbie. His father went to jail, leaving his mom to take charge. They are very poor so Ghost can’t afford track gear, much less anything that he needs for track. His Coach creates a strong bond with Ghost throughout the book, and they find out later that they have more in common than they think. The main question in the book is, Is Ghost running for his life or from it?

SPOILER ALERT!!!

Ghost is brave, smart and mischievous. He is brave because he is willing to do almost anything, and he is determined about it. He is smart because he finds his way out of things, in a clever way. He is mischievous because he steals a pair of sneakers, without getting caught.  He dosen’t have enough money to buy track shoes, so he cleverly does it. He also is one of those characters that you don’t know if what he is saying will happen or not.

The most interesting part was when Ghost created bonds with the other ‘newbies.’ They told each other their biggest secrets, they were surprisingly similar. A famous quote from the book is from Coach “Trouble is, you can’t run away from yourself.” Coach snatched the towel from his shoulder, folded into a perfect square, and set it in the space between us. “Unfortunately,” he said, “ain’t nobody that fast.” I  think this quote is important because it shares a lot about Ghosts life. He wants to run away from his past but can’t, so this track team helps Ghost a lot. When you read this book, that quote will stay with you throughout the whole book.

I definitely enjoyed Ghost. I loved every character’s personality, and how they were all so different yet the same. I would recommend this book to anyone who loves sports, a fast-paced book that you can’t put down and a book that you make connections with everyday. Ghost is very unique and has his own, teen, spunky and slang-talking personality. I would rate this book 5 stars because the book is all about sports and has a very unique setting. 

 

May
04
2017

Upside-Down Magic, Sticks and Stones, By Sarah Mlynowski

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The book I read was Upside-Down Magic, Sticks & Stones by Sarah Mlynowski. The book takes place in modern times. The main characters are Bax and Nory. In the book, everybody has a magic power. You can only have one power and there are only a few different powers. Flyers can fly, fuzzies can speak to animals, fluxers can change into different animals and there are a few other magic powers that I forgot. Nory and Bax are fluxers. But there’s something wrong with their magic. Nory can make a mix of two animals and Bax can only flux into a rock (but once a leash but that’s a whole different story). That’s what you would call UDM, upside-down magic. But UDM isn’t just for fluxers. It can be for anybody. So the UDM kids take different classes than the normal kids. One day (going to the book) there were rocks all over the ground in Nory and Bax’s school. Everybody was tripping all over the place. And there’s also a pennies for potions jar to help hospitals get better potions. That day, there were no pennies in the jar even though the day before there were pennies in the jar. Everybody knew the pennies were turned into rocks. There was this one mean girl whose name was Lacey Clench who blamed the UDM kids for doing this so she made a petition to get rid of the UDM kids. Does the petition work out for Lacey Clench or not.

I’m going to describe Bax in three adjectives. He’s quiet. He gets tutored with Nory for fluxing but he says nothing so the tutor only pays attention to Nory. He’s mysterious. When everybody was trying to figure out who turned the pennies to stone, everybody glared at him because of his rock magic. He’s personal. He doesn’t share anything about what’s happening in his life or his feelings. Like when his dad told him that he (the dad) got fired, he (Bax) didn’t tell anybody.

An interesting part of the book is that people talk about other people even though they don’t know that that person is listening. Another interesting part is that the book gives all of the mystery away but you still can’t figure out what’s happening. Lacey Clench said, “If I get fifty signatures, the UDM kids get kicked out.” That means Lacey Clench is mean because if you’re a student, it doesn’t mean you can kick other students out of school.

I liked Upside-down magic. I liked it because it was mystery and I love mystery. The book is filled with mystery. Page by page, something mysterious has happened. There’s also a bunch of magic. That’s why the book is called Upside-Down Magic  It’s a mystery book because something bad happened and people need to find out who did the bad thing. The book for me is really unique, but if you read it, you’ll be able to make a connection with another book or with a movie. I rate this book four 1/2 out of five stars.

May
04
2017

A Series of Unfortunate Events: The Bad Beginning By Lemony Snicket

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WARNING THIS REVIEW CONTAINS SPOILERS!

“A Series of Unfortunate Events: The Bad Beginning” is about the three Baudelaire children: Violet the eldest, Klaus the middle child and the baby Sunny. Their parents had died in a fire and they went to live with a horrible man, Count Olaf. Since the Baudelaire parents had a lot of money, Count Olaf wanted it but Violet hadn’t come of age yet and when she comes of age it will be hers. I think the time is about year 2007 because it seems modern but not as modern as 2017.

(DO NOT READ THIS IF YOU DO NOT LIKE SPOILERS)

I think that Violet is smart, inventive and protective. I think she is smart because she has read a lot of books and she likes to build machines. I think she is inventive because when her sister gets trapped she makes an contraption  that makes her go up and save her. She is protective because when anything happens to her siblings she always protects them in different ways.

The quote I think brought together the whole story was when Klaus said “you can’t marry my sister!”.  I thought that brought together the whole story because Count Olaf wanted to marry Violet so he could get hold of the Baudelaire’s fortune. I think an interesting part is when the banker, Mr.  Poe,  tells the kids that their parents died. Another interesting part is when Sunny bites Count Olaf’s finger.

I did enjoy this book because it is so unique. I would recommend this book if you like realistic fiction. This book only reminds me of the movie and the Netflix series A Series of Unfortunate Events. I would give this book five stars because it is amazing and it is not like any other book I have read before.  

 

      

 

May
04
2017

My Life In Pink And Green, By Lisa Greenwald

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The book I read is called My Life In Pink And Green by Lisa Greenwald. This book is about twelve year old Lucy, who lives with her mom and her grandma. Her family owns the local pharmacy in her hometown, Old Mill. The Pharmacy has been struggling in the last few years. That is until high school prom queen Courtney Adner, goes to the pharmacy to ask for help with her tremendous bad hair day. When Lucy fixes Courtney’s hair, she gets the idea to start an eco-spa at the pharmacy.

WARNING: DO NOT READ THESE NEXT FEW PARAGRAPHS IF YOU DO NOT WANT THE BOOK  TO BE SPOILED!

Lucy is determined, caring, and independent. She is determined because she wants to save the pharmacy and she won’t let anyone stop her. For example, when her grandma tells her she is too young to save the pharmacy, Lucy doesn’t give up and keeps going. Secondly, Lucy says “Still I don’t give up faith, after all, that is what grandma always advised.” This quote shows me how determined and dedicated Lucy is to save the pharmacy. She is caring because when her best friend Sunny is forced by her mom to join the Earth Club, she does it with her. Lucy is independent because she did all the work to save the pharmacy without her parents help.

One of the most important parts of the book is when Lucy joins the Earth Club. Though Earth Club may seem boring, it is where Lucy learns a lot about having eco-friendly pharmacy. Another important part of the book is when Lucy transforms the pharmacy’s boring waiting room into a comfortable relaxation room. Instead of just having fold up chairs, the relaxation room has a couch, magazines, and pretty lights.

I really enjoyed this book a lot. I liked how the book talks a lot about how kids can make a difference and not just adults. Also, I like how the book focuses on things families and businesses can do to help the environment. I would recommend this book to people who enjoy reading fiction and friendship books. Secondly, read this book if you think kids can make a change and they can do more than just go to school. This book doesn’t remind me of any books I have read, or any movies or television shows I have seen. It’s unique because I have not read many books about climate change and kids whose family is financially struggling. I would rate this book four and a half stars.

 

May
04
2017

Insert Coin To Continue by John David Anderson

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This book I read is called Insert Coin To Continue by John David Anderson. The main character in this book is Bryan. He loves to play video games. One night he was playing and his computer just turned off and it would not turn on. The next day his life is weird and he goes to school and says to his best friend Oz, “I think my life is a video game.” Then his worst day in his life happen and he is going to get beat up. He does not know what will happen but he thinks it will be bad. It is in a middle school (where news spread fast and changes) so Bryan told his friend Oz about this one thing at lunch and asked him not to tell anyone about a bully then he told someone who told someone else who changed it to something worse until the bully heard.

I think Bryan is tough, a gamer, and smart. I think he is tough because he is living in a video game and gets more used to it as the day goes on. I think he is a gamer because it says on the second page that he has been trying to unlock a secret bonus level for a whole month. I think he is smart because he knows how to get himself out of a lot of situations and can think of stuff on the spot. This is why I think he is smart.

The one of the most interesting parts I found was that Bryan was living in a video game.  Something I found surprising is that Bryan wanted to get out of his video game life. I found it interesting that Bryan was living in a video game because of how I love video games. Sometimes I think I am in a video game when I play them. Why I think it is surprising that Bryan does wants to not be living in a video game because he loves video games so much that it is surprising that he does not want to be living in a video game any more.

I really enjoyed this book. I enjoyed it because it is about a video game and I love video games so much. This book reminds me of nothing because I personally have never read or watched about something like this. So I think this book is unique the way it is told. I would recommend this book because it has a lot of action (in video game form), if you like video games and if you just want something to read about video games. So if you read it tell your friends to read. I would rate this book five stars because I had so much fun reading it I could read it again.

May
04
2017

8 Class Pets + 1 squirrel / 1 Dog = Chaos by Vivian Vande Velde

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This book is called 8 Class Pets + 1 squirrel / 1 Dog =  Chaos. This book starts out right after summer break after school when the school yard squirrel named Twitch trips on the nose of the principal’s dog named Cuddles. Already the dog and the squirrel weren’t friends to begin with, so when the squirrel tripped on the dog’s nose the dog had enough then started chasing the squirrel into the school. Now the squirrel is running through the school trying to run away from the dog and get back to safety, and that’s when the school got locked up and was closing for the night. The squirrel then meets up with all the eight class pets and tries to defeat the dog and find a way out, and that was what started the 8 Class Pets + 1 squirrel / 1 Dog adventure.

If I had to give Twitch three adjectives that describe him they would be that he’s a teaser, he’s nice (but only to a few animals), and he’s self-centered. He’s a teaser because he annoys people by rubbing it in their faces (specifically the dog Cuddles) that he’s a squirrel and he can climb and he brags how good he is at climbing, and brags that the dog can’t climb. One reason Twitch brags in general to the dog is because he’s tied up to a metal leash so he can’t come after him (at least Twitch thinks) and secondly because he’s a dog and in general dogs can’t climb. He’s nice because he’s friendly with all the other animals, and and they help each other in the book. He’s self centered because he doesn’t think how other animals might feel if he teases them or brags to them and sometimes he doesn’t think before he does things and it makes other animals feel bad.

An important part about my book is in the beginning when Twitch  tripped on the dog’s nose in the playground. That’s an important part because if you take that part out you will be left with no plot and no story. Another important part is when Twitch runs into the first grade hamsters room and asks for help. That’s important because the hamster suggested to go to the second grade bunny who’s smart and could get him out and if the hamster didn’t suggest that to Twitch would have stayed in the first grade room he would have gotten caught! An important quote that I think describes twitch would be “Ha-ha.” That’s because he loves to tease and I think that describes how sometimes he in sensitive and doesn’t take in how other animals might feel if he teases too much.

I thought this was a pretty good book. I love how Vivian Vande Velde put a lot of chaos into it with animals all over the place. This book is also unique. I think it’s unique because It’s really cool how someone could think up a weird plot like that and come up with a story that starts off with a weird beginning then turns into a big adventure! If I were to rate this book between 1-5 stars I would rate it a 4 . That’s because I love how there were animals. In the book and It’s chaotic, but the only thing that I would change would be to make it longer because it’s only 68 pages!

Hope you liked reading!

 

May
04
2017

The Bad Beginning, by Lemony Snicket

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SPOILER ALERT, THIS REVIEW REVEALS LOTS OF IMPORTANT PLOT POINTS

A Series of Unfortunate Events, THE BAD BEGINNING is by Lemony Snicket. This book is about three kids that each have something unique about themselves. Violet Baudelaire, the oldest, has a love for inventing things. Klaus Baudelaire, the second oldest, has a love for reading books. The third child, Sunny Baudelaire (she is a infant) has a love for biting things. She can sure bite hard. She can bite rocks into perfect skipping rocks, etc. Anyway, while the children are sitting on the beach, Mr. Poe, one of Mr. and Mrs. Baudelaires great friends. “How do you do?” , asked Violet and Klaus. “Odo Yow!”, said Sunny. “Fine”, said Mr. Poe. Unfortunately this conversation was not going to end in a good way. Mr. Poe was about to tell them some not so good news. “You’re parents have perished in a terrible fire”, said Mr. Poe. Mr. Poe said that the name of their new parent is Count Olaf. As they meet Count Olaf for the first time, they notice that he has a tattoo of an eye on his ankle. From then on, the three children realize that Count Olaf isn’t just trying to be a good parent but is doing whatever he can to get his hands on the fortune that the Baudelaire children were left with. As well as that, the children slowly start realizing that that tattoo on Count Olaf’s ankle might mean more than just a normal tattoo. I think that this book takes place in the 1980s because it didn’t really mention anything about computers or phones.

An adjective that I would use to describe the three children is being very, very smart. Violet is smart because she invented a grappling hook using curtains shirts, and wire. Klaus is very smart because he has read tons and tons of books. So many books that he can solve almost every problem with all of his knowledge that he has gathered from reading so many books. Sunny is very smart because whenever something is going on in the books sunny knows what is going on. Another adjective that I would use to describe the three is calm. Whenever the three face a problem with Count Olaf they never panic. They always think of something. Another reason that the three are calm is because when they went to there house after the fire, they didn’t burst into tears and start rolling on the ground. They don’t let their emotions get the better of them. A third adjective that I would use to describe the three is brave. They will do anything to help each other. Once Count Olaf trapped Sunny in the highest part of his house. Violet knowing that there were dangerous people in the house made a grappling hook to go rescue Sunny. Another reason that the three are brave is because when one of Count Olaf’s crew members came to get the three from Count Olaf’s next door neighbors house, Klaus stole a book that he thought would really help them with a problem that his siblings and himself were having with Count Olaf without anyone seeing it.

I have a lot of favorite parts in the book. If I had to pick three though, one would be is at the end of the book when Count Olaf is still trying to get the Baudelaire fortune by marrying Violet. Violet totally tricks Count Olaf by signing the official document with her left hand. That is one of my favorite parts of the book because a nice young women tricked a mean old man. My second favorite part of the book is at the beginning when Sunny is biting rocks into perfect skipping rocks. That is another one of my favorite parts because that the first time you see Sunny biting something so it is very surprising and kind of scary. My third favorite part is when they are super happy when they see Count Olaf’s next door neighbors house and they get all happy but when they hear that the house they will be living in is the one next door. That is one of my favorite parts because I feel like that is the beginning of the part of the book where it gets mysterious.

I really enjoyed this book because you never really know what is going to happen next. Two reasons that this is true is because one, one moment the Baudelaire children are on the children are on the beach and the next moment they know that their parents are dead and two, they think that they are going to be staying in this amazing house, the next thing they know they are staying in this awful looking dreaded house. I would recommend this book to people who really like mysteries. That is because there are a lot of mysteries in one book, there’s not just one mystery per book. This book reminds me of the Mysterious Benedict Society because there are so many different mysteries and different things that the characters are trying to figure out. Also in each book the main characters are all somewhat intelligent. If I had to rate this book from one to five stars I would rate this book four stars.

May
04
2017

Spy School By Stuart Gibbs

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The book I read was called Spy School it is written by Stuart Gibbs. This book is about a kid named Benjamin Ripley who has amazing math skills and a girl named Erica Hale who is an amazing spy. One day coming home from school Benjamin  a man named Alexander Hale who recruits Benjamin because of a fake skill that Benjamin doesn’t have. When he gets to Spy School there was a test to make sure he is actually qualified to go to Spy school. That was when he met Erica.The penalty for not making it through the test was death. If you weren’t qualified to be a spy you would probably die.  Benjamin did survive by meeting Erika who helped him through the test she also gave him a taser which he didn’t think was helpful but since he had a crush on Erika he didn’t say it. Soon after he met Chip Schacter who wanted Benjamin to hack into one of the computers so he could cheat and get all the answers. Then after that Murray Hill came in and knocked out Chip. Later in the middle of the night a murderer came into Ben’s room. Ben pulled out a tennis racket from the side of his bed and he hit the murderer with the tennis racket out the window. Ben  didn’t want to be embarrassed in front of them either because he was in boxers.

Benjamin is smart, determined and friendly. Ben is smart because when Alexander asked him what is 98,261 times 147 ,Ben immediately said “14,444,365”. Ben is determined on getting himself off the SPYDER’s hit list. He is also determined to get Erica to like him so he has to impress her which will be hard because she is the best in the school. Benjamin is a friendly because within like three days of being in Spy School he managed to get at least five friends. Erica is smart, independent, and prepared. Erica is smart because instead of making friends she reads, studies and practice things. At lunch she sits on a bench alone and reads. Erica is independent because she would rather do it right then let someone else do it wrong. For example when everyone was doing paintball and when the plan they made went wrong. Erica already had her own plan and she took out the guards and made sure that no one that no one would see that she went up the castle shot the sniper and stole the flag. Erica is a quick thinker because when Ben and Erika just figured out the mole’s location Erika already grabbed two M16s. This makes her a quick thinker because it proves she is ahead of the game and is ready for anything. Chip Schacter is two faced, sneaky and, tough. Chip is two faced because in the beginning of the book he was the bully like when he threatened Ben unless Ben  hack into the school computer so he could see all the answers to get better grades. Chip is sneaky because when everyone was playing paintball he snuck out and found a bomb in a cave. Chip is reckless because when he went to the bomb during paintball, he already had terrible grades on his bomb defusing class and he could have blown up the hole school.

I think the most interesting part of Spy School was when Ben and the mole are fighting and then Ben shot the huge ice crystal above the mole’s head making the mole fall unconscious. I think this is the most interesting part of the book because pretty much the whole book was. The second most interesting part of this book was when Erica made Ben say really bad things to the principal like what’d you’ve for lunch today dog poo? This is interesting to me because he is already in so much trouble now Erica asked him to get into even more trouble and she wouldn’t even tell him why she wanted him to do it. The third most interesting part of the book is the fact that Warren has a crush on Zoe but Zoe has a crush on Ben this is interesting to me because they are supposed to be working together on finding the mole. The most important part of Spy School is when Alexander came to Ben’s room to recruit him because if he didn’t there would be no point of the book and he wouldn’t have done all the cool things or met all of these people. The second most important part of the book is when they discovered that SPOILER ALERT Murray was the mole because if they hadn’t, SPYDER would have gathered so much information about the CIA and that would have ended everything if SPYDER had all of the details about the CIA. The third most important part of the book was when Ben discovers that SPOILER ALERT Alexander Hale is a fraud because otherwise Ben would be looking up to a guy that doesn’t even know anything and if he did that he would probably die. He would die because Alexander didn’t do anything right so Alexander would say something they would go into a trap and die. An important quote/message that Ben received to show when he was accepted into Spy School. Dear Mr. Benjamin Ripley it’s my great privilege to accept you to the Academy of Espionage of the Central Intelligence Agency, effective immediately. This quote/message is important to the book because if he didn’t get the message there would be no proof that Ben would be qualified or allowed to be in Spy School.

I enjoyed this book because Spy School because it has elements from genres there is mystery, action, adventure, fiction, spying and, drama. Also on occasion this book is kind of funny. Also because on almost every page there is something important or awesome happening. I would recommended this book because it has lots of unexpected twists that make it more interesting. Also because when you get into it you can’t come out of it like a trance, and I wish it will never stop. There are no TV shows, movies or books that I know of that are like Spy School. I think this because there are some things that are like this that I do not know of but if there are I want to read them because this book was amazing. I would rate this from five to one. Five which means I loved it. I want to read it again.

May
04
2017

The Courage Test By James Preller

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This book is called The Courage Test by: James Preller. It is about a boy named “William Meriwether Miller” and his father going camping trip to spend some “father and son time” alone. This trip was inspired by the explorers William Clark and his partner Meriwether. On this trip he has a rare and frightening experience with a grizzly bear. He also meets a girl who was in the country illegally. This book takes time and place around the time we are in now because they had fast food places and iPhones.

William is brave because he once was face to face with a bear and didn’t run away He was a little more cautious after encounter. He is also lazy because when it comes to something like hiking he  would rather sit down and have a bag of doritos. He is smart because when it comes to almost drowning he knows how to react by just staying still and not struggling.

One part of the plot that I liked was when Will was left behind and his father left him with a stranger.I liked that because when you read the book you will think that the characters will stay together because it’s a father son camping trip. I also liked that because most books don’t just lose their characters by killing then or something. One of the book/Will’s quotes is “Often the test of courage is to not die but to live.

I really liked this book because it has a few cliffhangers. Another reason this book is good is because it has lots of new characters joining the adventure. I would recommend this book if you like a fast paced book with a lot of characters. Also it would be good for you if you like lazy couch potatoes. This book is one of my favorite adventure books because it has a lot of characters and each is different than the next. Another reason it is good for this type of book is because it’s kind of like a diary or a journal.  I would give it a five because it has a lot of characters and some are lazy(like me)and it has historical facts that teach me about The first people who came to america and trails they took.