Lately I have been reading books by Kate DiCamillo and I like her books a lot. The book I am reading by her now is called The Tales Of Desperaux. It is about a tiny mouse that is so different than other mice that it gets thrown in the dungeon with the rats. But Desperaux is not scared because he promised himself he would stay brave for Princess Pea the human princess he is in love with. The setting takes place in the palace where royal family leaders of the Kingdom of Dor live.

There are three parts ,“books.” The 1st one is about Desperaux the 2nd is about Chiaroscuro one of the rats that lives in the dungeon. Chiaroscuro wanted to see light he had never seen light before he was a very curious rat. So one day when a new prisoner came in the dungeon Chiaroscuro snuck out the door and  he went up the stairs into the dining room where the royal family was eating. So he wouldn’t get seen, he climb up to a chandelier and dangled from there listening to wonderful music and looking at light  “wonderful light.” But princess pea spotted him and he was frightened so he fell landed in the queen’s soup and killed her. After that Chiaroscuros heart was broken and he wanted revenge on light.

Part three is about a girl named Miggery Sow she’s very boring and falls for things really easily . Her mother died when she was six. Her dad sold her for a chicken a table cloth and a pack of cigars also when she was six. Also the man she was traded to “Uncle” would give her clouts to the ear. She was treated like a slave for 6 years and on her 7th b-day when she went to tend to the sheep. The royal family came by and from then on she decided she wanted to be a princess. 5 years later, the same year  when  Chiaroscuro  fell into the soup, a man working for the king came by to tell them soup is banished and while he was there he found out Mig was a slave. So Mig was let free and worked as a servant in the castle but this time a PAID servant.

In the last “book” Chiaroscuro tells Mig that if she threatens to kill the princess and leads her down to the dungeon then she will for sure get her dream and become a princess. So since Mig did not know this rat was tricking her she did as she was told but then was trapped down in the dungeon with princess pea.  A few hours before this chaos Gregory ,a prisoner in the dungeon, helped Desperaux get out. This plan seems tricky but it was quite simple actually. All Gregory had to do was when Mig came down to give him his dinner he put Desperaux in the napkin and when Miggery went back upstairs with the tray Desperaux was still in that napkin being carried upstairs. After he got out of the napkin Desperaux found himself thread to to wrap a needle around his waist (Of course since Desperaux is so small a needle resembles a sword for him ) and then very bravely went down the dungeon stairs to rescue the princess … but did he ever come back out? Read the book and see.

I do recommend this book. Because it it very exciting when I started reading this book I could not stop. I  recommend other books by Kate DiCamillo like Because Of Winn-Dixie and The Mysterious Journey Of Edward Tulane which we already read in 3rd Grade. I liked it so much I would read it again.
 

Books of Elsewhere by Jacqueline West 

NYC-At 1:00 this afternoon the parents of eleven- year- old Olive Dunwoody called 911. They claimed their daughter was missing. They had no proof that she wasn’t hiding or just at their neighbor’s house but either way they called the police.

When the police got to their street which is Linden Street they searched the whole house including the “rather creepy basement,” the officers said. They found no trace of Olive in fact barely any trace of anyone ever being in any of the rooms other than their bedrooms, bathrooms and the library. The only exception was the guest room with lavender wallpaper where they found an open drawer with lace, hair clips and more old and fancy clothing.

One police officer who was sent to search in Olive’s bedroom was walking down the second floor hallway admiring the paintings. “When I got to the last painting right in front of the bedroom door I had to stop because I saw something moving in the painting that looked like a girl I knew right away it was Olive,” the officer said.

“Now we know why no one could find her because she was stuck in a painting and no one ever thinks to check in paintings,” says the officer. “She fell in the the painting and no one knows how she got in or how we are going to get her out so if you know anything about the history of the house please let us know,” said the chief.

Right now the police do not have any idea how to get this girl out but like the officer said you can help if you know any history of the house or the paintings. Also to donate money to help the police department get more equipment for research please go to police.help.more.help.com