Category Archives: 2013-2014

Apr
02
2014

11 Birthdays, by Wendy Mass

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11 Birthdays by Wendy Mass

This book is about a girl named Amanda. When she was born her parents made a promise to a lady named Angelina. The promise was that she would always have her birthday with her best friend Leo. Until she was 9 she kept that promise. You will read more about that later. Her parents never intended to keep the promise but they always had it happen that way. The book takes place in a place called Willow Falls.

On their 10th birthday Amanda got into a fight with Leo so they decided to not have their 11th birthday together. When she has her birthday separately she is miserable. She misses Leo but is still mad at him. The next day she wakes up to find that it is just her birthday all over again. She and Leo have to make up and then team up to get their birthday to happen just once a year. “‘ I get it.’ I announce happily.  ‘This is all just a game.’” Amanda first thinks when she wakes up on her birthday. Again.

 

I really liked this book because it is realistic fiction and a bit or a mystery. You can read this and get 2 in 1! It is told from her perspective which I really like and it gives a bunch of details. I would recommend this to someone who enjoyed other Wendy Mass books and who likes a some mystery. I really liked all the other books she written. I would give this 5 stars.

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Apr
02
2014

Emily Windsnap and the Sirens Secret, by Liz Kessler

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Over spring break I read the third book in the Emily windsnap series, The Sirens Secret by Liz Kessler. The main character in the Emily  windsnap  series is of of course Emily. Aaron and Shona are Emily’s best friends and are with Emily throughout the story. Emily has a crush on Aaron which makes things really awkward between them.  Emily is a loyal friend, determined, funny and shy towards new people. The setting of the book is mostly in the water because well the main character is a mermaid. Emily’s mom is a human so the story of course takes place on land too.  If you have not read any of the books on this series I would suggest reading the book reviews on the first and seconded books.

UnknownOne day Emily and Shona are really bored so Shona advises that Emily and herself go to see the lost sirens. A siren is a mermaid that attacks fishing boats that come into certain parts of the sea, they lore the fishermen into the sea bringing them to instant deaths by their siren songs. Anyway shins went looking for the lost sirens and decided to split up.  Emily was swimming along when she felt a strange current pulling her into what looked like an old well. Emily made the decision to jump into the well which led her to the lost sirens. At first when Emily met the sirens they seemed so nice and gentle. But after a while their soft tone turned into an impatient sharp tone that was when Emily had a feeling that the sirens were slowly but forcing her to do something, but Emily wasn’t sure

what that thing was…at least not yet. SING! Emily was not told why she had to sing but some feeling inside her told her to do what the sirens said or else… After a few hours Emily remembered about Shona, she had to find her. As Emily was remembering Shona guess who shot herself down that well, no one but Shona. They tried to go up the well but soon realized they were trapped they had to get out some how…

One important part is Emily’s big problem problem but that is in the paragraph above so another important part which so happens to be my favorite part too. When Mr. Beaston discovers the truth about his past. With the help of Emily, Shona, and Aaron a secret of a lie is on covered. This is an very emot

ional scene when all the most of the characters help one another that’s one of the good things about the Emily windsnap series. The books are all about love, friendship, and how important helping others is.

I really enjoyed this book because of its messages and the little problems that come up here and there. People who like sad books, books about friendship, love and and a little bit of mystery this book is for you. One of my favorite quotes in this book is “So what are we supposed to do now?” I like that quote because when something goes wrong Emily assumes that someone else is always supposed to have a backup plan. I would give this book ***** out of ***** stars.

Apr
02
2014

Eleven Birthdays, by Wendy Mass

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The book Eleven Birthdays is about a girl named Amanda and her ex-best friend Leo. They have the same birthday. Every year when their birthday came around they would have a party together. This year, on their eleventh birthday they are having separate parties because the year before they had gotten into a fight. Everyone at school that day is talking about Leo’s party because his party includes a famous sports star, a hypnotist, and an awesome band. Amanda is not excited at all for her party because she has to squeeze into an itchy Dorothy costume and tight blister-giving shoes. Amanda also said “ I wish me and Leo were having a party together” Amanda just wants her birthday to be over and Saturday to come. There is just one problem the next day is not Saturday it’s friday again.

My favorite part of the book is when well I can’t really tell you because it would be a spoiler, but I will tell you why I like it. I like it because Amanda finally found something out that will really help her. My least favorite part of the book is when this woman named Angelina disappears when Amanda most needs her. I don’t like that part because Amanda is really close to solving the mystery and then she disappears. She really makes Amanda scared and confused. I liked this book a lot because I was almost solving Amanda’s problem with her. The book was a little slow at parts.

UnknownI would recommend this book to people who like a realistic fiction book with fantasy mixed into it. I really like this kind of book because it is not as simple as a realistic fiction book, but it is not as hard to follow with the adventure and the amount of characters in a fantasy book. I would give this book 4 ½ stars.

Apr
02
2014

My Name Is Mina And I Love The Night Anything Seems Possible At Night When The Rest Of The World Has Gone Sleep, By David Almond.

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“My Name Is Mina” is about a girl who starts to write a journal about her life. But there is a catch. She does it at night. She says anything is possible when the rest of the world has gone to sleep. Well Mina isn’t the coolest kid around. She writes in another diary during the day in a tree. So she gets bullied a lot. This book changes years constantly so you kind of have to keep up. Mina lives in England. She gets kicked out of school because she write nonsense on an important essay the had to write.

 

Here is a quote from “My Name Is Mina.” “Sometimes I look at the world and I am amazed that there’s anything at all. Why is there anything? Why is there something? Rather than nothing? Why? Why? Why? Why? Was there just nothing? And did that nothing turn into something? And if that nothing turned into something how did it do it, and why? Why? Why? Why?

 

Well Mina isn’t exactly the worlds, average kid. She is a bit mental. So she is not mental in a way that makes her stupid just in a way that makes her strange. Find out if Mina gets back into school and gets a normal life. If you read this book. I give this book a four and a half star rating. It was good but it was a little weird. At first I thought it would be a complete waste of time.

 

But this book really taught me that we are lucky about what we have. And what our brain is like. We have normal brains. Some kids are really messed up in the head. But we are lucky enough that that did not happen to us. I also liked the book because it was they gave you interesting facts and fun things to do when you have free time.

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Apr
02
2014

Taggerung, By Brian Jacques

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This is a book from the Redwall series. It is called Taggerung. This book is about a young otter whose father was slain by vermin. These vermin took him in, and named him their taggerung. A taggerung is a beast who is very fast, very strong, and extremely dangerous. Taggerungs also have very good eyesight, hearing, and tracking skills. When this taggerung leaves the vermin clan because the chief Sawney Rath was becoming too dangerous for his own good, he goes off adventuring and eventually ends up at Redwall Abbey.

The main characters are Tagg, ( The taggerung) Nimbalo, ( a harvest mouse) Mhera, (Tagg’s older sister) Cregga Badgermum, ( The abbey’s caretaker) and Filorn ( Tagg and Mhera’s mother). This book takes place in Mossflower Woodlands.

A very important thing is that Taggerung goes through a change to find his real self. The taggerung realizes that he is not a vermin, and he has things that he wants to do anyway. Here is what the taggerung told Sawney Rath when he left. “ I no longer want to be with you or your clan, Sawney. You’ve become too dangerous for your own good. I’ve watched you change over the seasons from a clan chief, to a bad old beast. I go my own way now. our paths will never cross again, so I wish you better times and hope you learn to treat others more wisely.”

When Tagg leaves Sawney’s band, there are many plot twists. One of them introduces a very important character, Nimbalo. Tagg and Nimbalo become very good friends, and they are usually found together, having adventures.

I enjoyed this book a lot, and I would totally rate it 5 out of 5 stars. I would recommend this book to people who like funniness, action, animal perspective, and don’t mind a bit of violence. Also, you should be prepared for a little tiny bit of grossness. But other than that, I think that this book should be a movie so that we could watch it! That would be awesome!

This is the cover of Taggerung. The otter on the cover is the Taggerung.

 

Apr
02
2014

Spy School By Stuart Gibbs

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Spy School is about a boy named Benjamin Ripley. He is a normal kid, he likes to play sports etc. until… One day a agent in the CIA comes to his house and asks him to apply to a ‘science school’ which is really a secret CIA training camp. He is so excited and he says yes but there is one problem. He can’t tell his parents that it’s a secret CIA training facility. His parents are psyched that he got into a new school but they want to check it out. Ben has a tough time saying no to his parents. Because in the book it says “It was a hard choice to leave my parents but I wanted to be in the CIA so I said yes.”

 

He went to the school and as soon as he got there there was an attack by the enemy. He went into the nearest building and found a girl crouching there. Ben asked her what she was doing there and she said that she was one of the students at the school. Then the girl gave Ben a Taser. Then they snuck out of the building and went to the building where the principals office was. I don’t want to tell more about this because there will be spoilers.

I will give this book 1,000,000 out of 10 stars because it kept me on my toes waiting for something else to happen. I would recommend this book to 4th-5th graders because third graders wouldn’t understand the book and 6th graders wouldn’t like. I would also reccomend this book to people who like mysteries.

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Apr
02
2014

Game of Clones by M.E. Castle

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WARNING: DO NOT READ THIS UNLESS YOU HAVE READ THE FIRST TWO BOOKS!

This book is called Game of Clones by M.E. Castle. The main character is Fisher Bas and he has a clone who is named Two/Alec. Fisher is a science geek and isn’t very good with communicating with other people. This book takes place in Palo Alto California.

Fisher’s problem is that there is a third clone who is evil called “Three”. They have to figure out his evil plans and stop him. To do this, they have to battle a “jellyfish car machine,”  escape a collapsing library, and fight off an army of robots! “Come on! We have to follow the robot to find Three’s plans!”233

I enjoyed this book very much! This book was good for me because I like the characters and the plot is interesting because it kept you on your toes. My favorite part was when Alec/Two figured out how Three was doing  I would recommend this book to people who like adventure… (and have read the first two books.) I would rate this book 5 stars!(P.S., this book is the 3rd in a growing series.)

 

Mar
12
2014

Fantastic Family Whipple, by Matthew Ward

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The fantastic family Whipple is written by Matthew Ward.

This book’s main character is Arthur Whipple, whose 11 years old. His parents are Charles and Elisa Whipple. Charles is always very hard on Arthur and gives him a rough time about breaking a record because everybody in Arthur’s family has broken a record so far, except for Arthur. Even though he has not broken a record yet, he has more to be ashamed of, according to his father. But his father Charles is not motivating him at all. “Arthur, you are a shame in our family. We are too loyal, you are just no good for any of us.” But his siblings say that’s not true.

All of the Whipple children: Henry, Simon, Cordelia, Penelope, Edward, Charlotte, Lenora, Franklin, Abigail, Beatrice, George and Ivy are all born on the same day, march 1st, except for Arthur, whose birthday is one day before, on february 29th, only every 4 years. But at the birthday party they meet someone who will change their lives…

This is a thick book, which has 368 pages and a lot of details. Look at this book and go on there fantastic family fine trip! From the Whipple family.

I rate this book 3 stars because I got spoilers and I knew what was going to happen next. ***

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Mar
06
2014

Fantastic family whipple, by Matthew Ward

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The fantastic family Whipple is about a family that breaks records, in fact everybody in their family broke a record except for Arthur Whipple, the person who has not broken a record. Arthur’s dad is too hard on Arthur and thats why he wants to break a record, to get his dad off his chest.

I rate this book 3 stars because sometimes it just is really boring. ***

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Mar
04
2014

The Real Boy by, Anne Ursu

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The Real Boy was a awesome book it had a lot of fantasy mixed in with some magic spells and battles.

 

The book is about a boy named Oscar who is working for a master magician named Caleb. Caleb leaves to go to the continent a meeting I guese  and leaves Oscar in charge. Oscar does not know how to communicate because he has lived in the cellar for all his life making potions and collecting herbs so he has trouble running the shop. After a while kids start getting sick. Oscar starts freaking out because it is a magic town and they are not suppose to be sick. Will Oscar cure them and save the town or will he fail at saving the kids and the whole Barrow.

 

This book was a great book I loved it. Some parts were sad and I wanted to cry but sometimes I would be on my tippy toes because it was exciting

My favorite part was when Oscar did not know how to speak to the towns people and it was funny because he was kind of weird at that part.

 

I would rate this book 1 million stars out of 5. It was great in and out when I closed the book I felt like I was going to cry.

I would recommend this for kids who are into fantasy and magic and monsters and battles.images