Author Archives: Gus

Sep
15
2014

murder on the orient express by Agatha Christie

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Murder on the Orient Express is by Agatha Christie it is about a detective named Hercule Poirot who is traveling on the luxury train line the Orient Express. All of a sudden the train gets stuck in a snowstorm. Then the detective finds out that a rich American on the train named Mr. Ratchett has been murdered in the middle of the night. The murderer had to be one of the passengers in Poirot’s coach. What will happen next…?

 

When Poirot goes to the scene of the murder(Mr. Ratchett’s cabin) he finds a piece of paper that says “…member little Daisy Armstrong…” . Daisy Armstrong was the kidnapped and murdered daughter of an extremely rich american family. After finding this scrap of paper Poirot concludes that the rich American man Mr. Ratchett’s real name is Casetti. Casetti was the name of the infamous murderer and gang leader who killed Daisy. After inspecting the site of the murder, Poirot interviews all the people on the train to see what they know about the murder. But Poirot gets nowhere with the case. Then Poirot decides to inspect the luggage of all the passengers. Still after inspecting they luggage he has no new information. So Poirot sits down to think over what he does know.

If I was to tell you anymore of the book I would spoil it and it would be no fun to read. So I have decided not to write any more. The book is great and I hope you read it.I would rate it 5 out of 5 stars.  *****

Jun
04
2014

Al Capone Shines My Shoes by Gennifer Choldenko

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Screen Shot 2014-06-04 at 9.34.22 PMThis book review is going to be about the book Al Capone Does My Shirts. The book was written by Gennifer Choldenko. The book is about a boy that lives on Alcatraz, the worst prison to be on at thetime. As you might have guessed there are ups and downs when you are living around the worst criminals in America. Alcatraz is basically a gigantic rock (or island) covered in cement, topped with bird crap.

 

The main characters name is Moose, short for Matthew. He is very solidly built, nice to everyone except for the warden’s daughter named Piper. For example he is constantly hanging out with a 7 year old that likes him. When he first gets to the island he is sent to the warden’s office to promise to help the wardens daughter carry her projects to and from school. It turns out that Piper is more trouble than Moose thought.

 

Within the first few hours of school Piper has broken her dad (the warden’s) rule about not talking about living on Alcatraz. Also she makes people pay to have their laundry done by the criminals but then won’t pay the people who helped her do it.

 

In the beginning of the book you think that Al Capone is really bad but he is actually pretty nice to moose. For example one time Moose goes to the sell house and Al is complimenting him. He also helps Natalie Moose’s sister to go to a school for children with autism. He asks Al Capone to help her get in.

 

One quote from Piper is,”You won’t get any of the money we make.”. So to conclude this book review the book is about how Moose will keep a good record with the grownups and a good relationships with the children on the island. I recommend it if you like mystery and adventure, a fast moving book, or a book about living near a prison. I would rate this book 100 stars out of 5. ********************************************************************************************************************************************************************* Ok that might not be 100 but it is pretty close to it.

 

Apr
08
2014

The Higher Power of Lucky by Susan Patron

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41y78rzz1ml_1_I recommend the book The Higher  Power of Lucky. It is about a girl, after her mom died after a storm. But her mom’s  husband is divorced with the mom and doesn’t want to take care of lucky. So the dad hires his wife from before named Brigítte to take care of lucky.

 

So Brigítte flies to Hardpan California. And in the time that the Brigítte is flying there a man called Old Sammy takes of lucky. So Brigítte get there and is taking care of lucky. But there is misunderstanding that makes Lucky have a stronger reaction than she should. at one point she her friend is doing something illegal,but it turns out to be a smart thing to do anyways.

 

So afterwards she thinks in her mind that if he runs for president she will tell everyone about that one incident.  But overall the book is about all the ups and downs of life in a small town in California.( she also happens to be fairly poor and live in a trailer.)

 

I would rate this book 4 stars out of 10 because it wasn’t very interesting (but I didn’t get any spoilers). But don’t get me wrong, if you like books that are about Realistic fiction then I recommend the book for you. ****

 

Feb
26
2014

The Westing Game by Ellen Raskin

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I recommend the book The Westing Game if you like mystery. It is by Ellen Raskin. The book is about a man and his will. He is said to have been murdered  and there are 16 people who live in a building and they are the suspects.

The story takes place in an apartment building called Sunset Tower.  Also at one point in the book there is a bomber. The bomber injures three people including itself. Thats not the only problem, someone is stealing stuff and in the end they find out who it is. So    back to the topic, they are put into pairs and each pair gets some clues and they have to figure out who killed Mr. Westing out of all of them. One clue that Mr. Westing gives is, “ It is not about what you have, its what you don’t have that matters.”

 

But Mr. Westing wants one person to be caught. The thing I liked the most about this book is the way it ends, but you should still read the whole book because it is all good. So I would rate this book ten stars out of five. **********.

 

Jan
29
2014

S.T.A.T. by Amar’E Stoudemire

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imgresI recommend the S.T.A.T. series if you like sports or adventure. it is an auto-biography. The books are about Amar’e Stoudemire, a player for the Knicks, and his life as a child. The main bump in the last book ,Most Valuable, Amar’e has to set up a tournament for a famous streetball player named omar tanner. The name of the tournament is The Classic.

 In the second book he almost loses his best friends,  Mike and Deuce. He also makes a new friend named James A.K.A.“Jammer”. Over his adventures many things happen. Read the series for more info. the reason I like it is because what I said befor, I like adventure and sports. I would rate this an 8 out of 10 stars.

Jan
08
2014

Centerburg Tales by Robert McCloskey

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I recommend centerburg tales if you like adventure because it is all short stories that are connected.

This book is a sequel to the book Homer Price. The main character is as you probably guessed is, Homer Price. The place they are most is Uncle Ulysses diner.

Uncle Ulysses is Homers Uncle. The main side characters are the Sheriff, the Barber and Uncle Ulysses.

Again I recommend centerburg tales if you like adventure.  

Dec
13
2013

The Great Brain series By John D. Fitzgerald

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I recommend the Great Brain series to readers that like adventure. I recommend the Great Brain series because the characters do things a normal day person would not do. The story is based in a small town in Utah. The “Great brain” refers to a very clever boy who has two  brothers and a mom and a dad. The boy uses his cleverness get things from other boys that he otherwise would not get.So the book is about him and his brothers adventures. But sometimes he get in trouble with grownups for using his cleverness to get those things.So once again I reccomend the “Great Brain” siries to people that like adventure.

                                                I would rate this book 5 ***** stars