Author Archives: Julia

Aug
28
2015

The Report Card

Posted by

A good book I read is called, The Report Card. The Author is Andrew Clements (He also wrote Frindle which is another good book). It takes place in Philbrook Elementary School. It is about a girl named Nora Rose Rowley. She is a genius but she doesn’t want anyone to know. She has Hyperthymesia (which means she remember pretty much everything) but nobody knows. not even her parents. Her best friend Stephen is a good hardworking kid but she feels like he thinks he’s stupid. And she doesn’t think he’s stupid at all. So she get bad grades (on purpose) to prove he’s not stupid. But then her parents get the principal and all the teachers involved.

 

Then Nora comes up with a plan with Stephen to get all the kids in the school get bad grades on purpose and then it turns into a big mess. If you don’t want to know what happens in the end don’t read the rest of this paragraph. So there is a big meeting and Stephen’s parents are there and Nora’s parents are there and all the teachers, the principal, the superintendent and of course, Nora and Stephen. Then at the meeting Nora finds out that Stephen did a lot without her knowing and a lot of kids listened to Stephen. If you want to know what Nora does next you’ll have to read the book.

 

I liked this book a lot because I like Nora and she is an interesting person and I like the fact she is so smart but doesn’t tell anyone. It’s not my favorite book but I still liked it. I would rate it 3 stars

imgres

Aug
25
2015

Emily Windsnap and the Ship of Lost Souls

Posted by

My book is called, Emily Windsnap and the Ship of Lost Souls. It is by Liz Kessler. She lives in Cornwall, England. If you want to read the first book I would not suggest reading this book reveiw. Emily Windsnap is an Eighth Grade girl who is also a Semi-mer. (a Semi-mer is a Human but if the go deep enough into water they turn into a mermaid/man) Her best friend is Shona who is a full time mermaid and Her other friend Mandy (who used to bully her) is a full time Human. And her Boyfriend Aaron is a Semi-mer like her. This is the sixth book in the series I suggest reading the other books first: 1,The Tail of Emily Windsnap. 2, Emily Windsnap and the Monster from the Deep. 3, Emily Windsnap and the Castle in the Mist. 4, Emily Windsnap and the Siren’s Secret. 5, Emily Windsnap and the Land of the Midnight Sun. This book takes place mostly at a place called Five Bays. It is run By Lyle and Lowenna Waters. She goes to Five Bays on a class trip (Shona’s School Shiprock also is coming) and everything there is unorganized and Lowenna is not there. The Emily and Aaron go and find a hidden place with a chair looking out onto the ocean. And then they see a ship that no one else can see and they don’t know why so they tell Mandy and Shona and they try to figure it out.

 

One day Shona and Emily are out in the water and Emily sees the ship up close and she sees a woman in the ship who she can’t hear but seems to be mouthing the words “Help us!” Then She goes into Lyles office with Mandy and Aaron and talked with Lyle who is suspicious about if they know anything about the ship and they denied knowing anything about it and then before they leave Emily sees a picture on his desk of the woman she saw on the ship. Later they sneak into his office and use his computer to look up the name of the ship which is Prosperous II and find out it is a boat owned by a  vacation company. They need to know more so they ended up telling Lyle everything.

 

I really liked this book a lot and if you want to know more then read the book! If you like adventure books then you would like this book because Emily loves adventure and even admits in the book she can’t help pass up and adventure. I would rate this book five stars.

Aug
22
2015

When You Reach Me

Posted by

510Bi8e5ihL._SY344_BO1,204,203,200_

 

The Author of When You Reach Me is Rebecca Stead. This book takes place in New York Upper West side 1978-1979. The main character is Miranda Sinclair. The other important characters are, Sal (her best friend), Marcus (the boy who punched Sal), The Laughing Man (a homeless guy who is always sticking his head in a mailbox and her friends,Colin and Annemarie (and Julia but Miranda doesn’t like her at first) The situation is she is getting letters and she dosen’t know who is writing them. When she got the first letter her house door was unlocked and the extra key (for if she loses her key) is gone and nothing appears to be stolen. Then she finds the first letter in her library book. This is what the first letter says:

 

M,

This is hard. Harder than I expected, even with your help. But I have been practicing,and my preparations go well. I am coming to save your friends life,and my own. I ask two favors. First, write me a letter. Second please remember to mention the location of your house key. The trip is a difficult one I will not be myself when I reach you.

 

This is confusing because why would someone who took the key ask where it is?

 

 

If you want here are the other letters but they probably won’t make sense unless you read the book! 🙂

 

Second letter:

 

Miranda:

Your letter must tell a story-a true story. You cannot begin now, as most of it has not yet taken place. And even afterward, there is no hurry. But do not

wait so long that your memory fades. I require as much detail as you can provide. The trip is a difficult one, and I must ask my favors while my mind is sound.

A postscript: I know you have shared my first note. I ask you not to share the others. Please. I do not ask this for myself.

 

 

The Third letter:

 

You will want proof 3 p.m today:Colin’s knapsack.

Christmas Day: Tesser well.

April 27th:Studio TV-15

P.S Yawns do serve a purpose. They cool the brain by bringing air high into the nasal passage, which has the effect of increasing alertness.

 

The last letter:

 

This is the story I need you to tell this and everything that has led up to it Please deliver your letter by hand you know where to find me. My apologies for the terse instructions. The trip is a difficult one; I carry nothing, and a man can only hold so much paper in his mouth.

 

 

I really liked this book because it gives you clues that don’t make sense and then the more you read the more it makes sense. Also the book is the perspective of Miranda’s letter to the letter writer. I would suggest this book if you like books like that and if you like time travel and mini problems aside a bigger one. I would rate this book five stars!

 

                          

 

 

Jun
04
2015

The School for Good and Evil

Posted by

The School for Good and Evil is about two friends named Sophie and Agatha. They are best friends and Sophie wants to go to the School For Good but she gets taken to the School For Evil and Agatha follows her and gets put in the School For Good. I made a book trailer for it and you see people who Sophie and Agatha meet, like Beatrix. Beatrix is in the School For Good but she isn’t actually that nice. You also see Tedros, who is a character that Sophie and Agatha think they need but don’t. You also see evil characters like Dot and Hester. Hester is the most evil. I really recommend this book and I hope you like this trailer!

 

Password: littlered!

The School For Good & Evil – 4th Grade Book Review from Namita Tolia on Vimeo.

Apr
08
2015

The School for Good and Evil a World Without Princes

Posted by

This book is so very interesting that it is impossible to put down. It is called The School for Good & Evil: A world without Princes. It’s from the Series The School for Good and Evil.

The author is Soman Chainani. He is an Indian-American writer and filmmaker. He attended Harvard. He was born in Miami Florida.
The book is about two best friends named Sophie and Agatha. They thought they had their happy ending because they were in a fairy tale (if you want to know about that read The School for Good and Evil) and They got home and were happy. What’s not to be happy about? But Agatha likes a boy named Tedros of Camelot. His dad is King Arthur. Sophie and Agatha both make a wish. Sophie wishes for her mother (her mother is dead), and Agatha wishes for Tedros. I want to tell you what happens but I don’t want to give too much away so if you want to know what happens keep reading, but if you don’t stop reading at STOP and start again at CONTINUE.

 

So since Agatha wished for Tedros, Tedros thinks he should kill Sophie. The School for good and evil has changed to the School for Girls and the School for Boys! Sophie and Agatha go to the School for girls obviously but they need to get the pen that writes their story. But unfortunately the pen is in the boys school and the boys are trying to kill girls and the girls are trying to kill the boys. And on top of that the school for boys won’t let them in and when I say the school I don’t mean the people in the school I mean the actual building. So Sophie turns into a boy and goes into the school. Okay that’s it. CONTINUE.

 

The book takes place at The School for Good and Evil. The author makes a clear image in your mind. When you read this book it’s like you’re there, witnessing it.

 

Agatha is nice, because she tried to stop someone from killing a Gargoyle once. She is not girly because she doesn’t care if ‘a hair is out of place’ or if her ‘lipstick is the wrong shade’ (she doesn’t wear lipstick). She is clever because she got in and out of the Dean’s office unnoticed. And for Sophie. Sophie is very girly. She loves pink and lipstick and has a million skin creams. She is friendly because she has lots of friends.

 

I liked this book because you never know what will happen next, it’s full of adventure, and it has more than one perspective.

I would recommend this book  if you like: Adventure, a bit of fairy tale and a little bit of mystery. I rate this book FIVE STARS. 18172465

 

 

 

 

Feb
25
2015

Out Of My Mind

Posted by

My book is called Out Of My Mind by Sharon Draper. It is about a disabled girl named Melody Brooks. She is disabled because she can’t walk, move her arms, or talk. But she is very smart and nobody (except her parents) knows it. She goes to school with a helper, named Catherine, who feeds her and helps her go to the bathroom (she wishes she could go to the bathroom by herself) and do the rest of the things she can’t do herself. She also orders a machine that helps her talk. She enters a team made of some of the smartest kids in the school and she makes the team and has the best marks out of EVERYONE. Her teammates think Catherine told her the answers and she cheated. These girls named Claire and Molly are really mean to her. Her team gets past the first round and everyone is preparing everything for the trip to Washington. Melody is sooo excited and her parents buy her new clothes, bags, and other things. She is just so excited. When they get there she doesn’t see any of her teammates.

 

WARNING: DO NOT READ ANY MORE UNTIL YOU GET TO CONTINUE BUT READ IF YOU WANT ME TO GIVE WHAT HAPPENS AWAY: Ok, so she gets to the airport and talks to  the woman who works there. Her mom said that they really needed to go to Washington because of the group and the woman said that she actually saw a group come in earlier and they already went to Washington. Melody stayed home a few days and the day that the group was coming back from Washington and she was DESPERATE to go to school for some reason. It was raining and she didn’t bring her talking thing so she couldn’t talk. Her mom was very stressed and was not happy. Melody saw her little sister Penny run into the street and she started screaming and crying and trying to move her arms but her mom could not stand it any more and she slapped Melody right on the leg! But Melody kept screaming and crying and Penny had to go to the hospital. Ok I’ve said WAY too much.

 

CONTINUE. Melody is smart, funny, and loved by her friends and family. She is smart because she beat everyone trying out for the team. She is funny because she is always thinking of funny jokes. And you know she is loved by her friends and family because her mom and dad are always taking care of her. Her sister Penny always wants to play with her. And her adult friend Mrs.V helped her study to make the team. And Catherine (not an adult but a teenager a teenager  is close enough) always helped her and made jokes and stood up for her.

 

I really like this book and really recommend it! If you like stories that make you feel for the characters then read this book I would give it FIVE STARS! You don’t read a book like that every day!

imgres

Jan
14
2015

Counting By Sevens

Posted by

Counting by Sevens is a great book. It’s by Holly Goldberg Sloan.The main characters in my book are Willow Chance (the main main character) Dell, Pattie, Mai, and Quang-ha. At school she does so well on the test (because she is a genius) that it is impossible for kids her age to have done so well on the test so they think she cheated. So the IMG_20130715_192833principal sends her to Dell who is a counselor for kids who are bullies or cheat and stuff. The main problem is Willow’s parents die in a car crash and Willow needs to find foster parents because she doesn’t have any relatives that she knows. While her friend Mai lies to the police about her family knowing Willow’s family for years instead of a couple of weeks because Willow learned one of the languages she spoke just so she could talk to her in that language. She explains to her mother Pattie what’s going on and Pattie signs the paper to take care of Willow but it’s not permanent so Willow spends a few months with her. They are in Bakersfield, California.

 

Willow is smart, not super sensitive, and a good friend. Willow is smart because she is a genius like she did so well on a test everyone thought she was cheating. She is a warm hearted but not super sensitive and barely ever cries. And she is a good friend because she learned a language just for her friend Mai. In the beginning of the book Willow counted by sevens because she found it soothing. But after her parents died she stopped. I think the most interesting part is when her parents died and when she found out. I think that was my favorite part because it was the biggest part of the book. Something cool about the book is there are 49 fish on it and 49 is a multiple of 7 which is Willow’s favorite number.

 

I really liked this book because it was realistic.I would recommend this book  to people who like realistic books. You can connect to some of the characters like I can connect to Mai because she’s a regular kid who likes to decorate things and has lots of friends. The book is confusing and I suggest you start on the second chapter because the first one gives away an interesting part. I’d rate this book three and a half stars because it was confusing at first and then REALLY good and then it was kinda boring but don’t take me the wrong way I liked and it was a good book.

 

 

Dec
11
2014

Always Abigail by Nancy J. Cavanugh

Posted by

 AlwaysAbigail

The book I’m reading is called Always Abigail. The Author is Nancy J. Cavanaugh. The author lives in Florida with her husband and daughter. The main characters in this book are Abigail and Gabby. The problem is Abigail wants to be popular but Gabby is the school’s biggest outcast, but she is really nice to Abigail. This is a problem because everyone makes fun of Gabby and if Abigail hangs out with her, people might make fun of Abigail too.

This book takes place at a school. Something big that happens is Abigail falls into a BIG mud puddle when she was going to the school bus (because they had a lot of rain lately) and everyone was laughing at her including two girls who Abigail thought were her friends. But Gabby didn’t laugh, and helped her up. The moral of the story is don’t judge a book by it’s cover because the cheerleaders were nice to her until she wasn’t a cheerleader.

I really liked the book and it had a saying I also really liked: When life gives you lemons don’t pucker and pout, make lemonade and laugh out loud. I’d give this book five stars.