Category Archives: 2013-2014

Jan
07
2014

Outcast Of Redwall By Brian Jacques

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Recently, I read a book called Outcast Of Redwall by Brian Jacques. It was a really goofy book, and I liked it because it is full of action. Also, it is told from the perspective of animals, who live in “ Mossflower Woods.” At Redwall, a ferret babe is brought up by the young mousemaid, Bryony. She raises him, and loved him, but he committed a terrible act! When he is caught, he is named the Outcast Of Redwall, because they made him an outcast. It turns out that this young ferret happens to be the abandoned son of the warlord, Swartt Sixclaw. Swartt has six claws on his left forepaw, hence the name Sixclaw. His abandoned and forgotten son Veil, has inherited the sixclaw from his father, the warlord. I would totally rate this book five stars because I like how everyone has their own distinguishing characteristic. I would recommend this book to people who like animal perspective and action, because there is plenty of that in Outcast Of Redwall.

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Jan
07
2014

Athlete vs. Mathlete by W.C. Mack

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Athlete vs. Mathlete by  W.C. Mack

Review by Elijah Meltzer

Athlete vs. Mathlete is by W.C. Mack and is about two boys named Owen Evans, (“Basketball superstar, lights up the scoreboards”) and Russell Evans (“Brainiac powerhouse, lights up the school boards.”). This book takes place in Portland Oregon in about 2008. About

midway through the book Russell is forced by the new coach to play for the pioneers the school basketball team, because he is tall. He becomes a superstar and takes Owen’s place! Owen gets really mad and does some mean things. I enjoyed this book a lot because I could really sense what the characters were feeling.

My favorite part of the book was when Owen gives a play by play of his basketball games because I like basketball so I really get to know what is going on and how he is feeling.  For example, “When the ball was tossed, I went for it.  My fingers touched it first, and I pushed the ball toward Nicky Chu.  He caught it and pivoted fast before passing it to Nate James. Nate was the fastest guy on the pioneers, and made a breakaway, dribbling toward the basket. Right when he got to the hoop, he looked left then passed to me. As soon as I got the ball I lined up and took the shot. Swish!” (W.C. Mack, pg. 22-23).

 

I would recommend this book to people that like basketball, problem solving or friendship problems. Because all of those things come up a lot in this book.

 

I would rate this book 4 out of 5 stars.

Jan
07
2014

Keys of the Demon Prison by Brandon Mull

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Fablehaven is about a brother and sister (Seth and Kendra) that find a magic world. In the magic world there is a demon prison and the keys are artifacts that have magic powers. The enemy is the Society of the Evening Star and they are trying to open the demon prison. The artifacts/keys are hidden on places that hold magic animals called preserves. Seth and Kendra look for the artifacts to stop the Society of the Evening star from getting them. There are many preserves but five are secret and have artifacts in them. I would recommend this book to people that like fantasy and adventure. My favorite part would be a spoiler so I won’t say it. I rate this book 4 stars because it wasn’t funny enough.

Jan
07
2014

Little House In The Big Woods By Laura Ingalls Wilder

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Long ago a girl named Laura Ingalls Wilder lived in the big woods of Wisconsin in a little log house. She lived with her older sister Mary, her baby sister Carrie, and her ma and pa, and there watchdog jack. Back then kids used to call there parents ma and pa instead of mother and father. This book is about her and her life and how they lived back then. Laura is a energetic girl who loves to play and loves being with her family. Her older sister Mary is way more different then Laura, for example Laura loves playing outside and getting dirty but Mary likes to keep her dress clean and listens to her parents. Some parts of the book is really nice and mellow but some of the other parts really has alot of adventure. When you read this book you learn how they lived back then, like when Lauras pa goes out to hunt food or how they made food back then like what kind of materials they used. This book is also when Laura and Mary have new expierences  like when Laura and Mary go to town for the first time. I would recomend this book to somebody who loves adventure and likes books about other people and how they lived. I would rate this book 5 stars because when i first looked at this book I did not want to read it, but when i had to read this book it was really good and one more reason why i loved this book is because that it was really cool how i learned how they lived back then and specificly how the author of this book lived.

Jan
06
2014

Suzanne Collins’ MockingJay Book review

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[WARNING:] [DO NOT READ THIS ARTICLE IF YOU HAVE NOT READ CATCHING FIRE:]

MockingJay  is a very interesting book. I say that because last seen in Catching Fire, Katniss Everdeen almost gets herself killed and finds out that all of the people in the latest hunger games sacrificed themselves for Katniss not Peeta Mellark. Katniss made a deal with Haymitch to save Peeta instead of herself. Haymitch is a drunk man who is Katniss’ and Peeta’s tutor for the hunger games. The whole plot of MockingJay is to overthrow the Capitol. Peeta however, gets captured by President Snow, (an evil elderly man who rules the Capitol) at the end of Catching Fire. I felt that out of the three, MockingJay was the best because it throws a whole lot of information in the beginning of the book. A few people in the comments of my Catching Fire review said that I gave away too much, but this will be different because I am trying my hardest to not give “spoilers,” as you folk may say it. Anyway, The true core of the rebellion is District 13. That district is kept secret to all of the other districts because District 13 and the Capitol had a blackmail-like deal which if District 13 is kept secret to the other districts neither of them will attack each other. The Capitol does not attack District 13 because of their nuclear weapons… until now. I would give this book 5 out of 5 stars because as said before, I just simply love how Suzanne writes this novel with the storyline always from Katniss’ perspective. I would recommend this book for people who could handle or think they can handle the other books in the series (The Hunger Games and Catching Fire).

 

 

Jan
06
2014

The Hunger Games, by Suzanne Collins

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The Hunger Games is about a girl named Katniss Everdeen, from District 12, who volunteers for her sister’s place in the Hunger Games, because she doesn’t want her sister, Prim dieing.Katniss is brave, loyal, and protective Everyday before the Hunger Games, Katniss  goes out hunting with her best friend Gale. This is an important part of the book because this is where she learns how to hunt and survive in the wild.The Hunger games is when they take one boy and one girl from each district and have them train and then fight to death with no food and water unless they can kill, gather, and find some. It is also on live tv! The competitors have to be between the ages 12-18. The Hunger Games takes place somewhere near the capital. How the kids get picked is, there is one big bowl thing. They have all the kids names in it whose ages are between 12-18 in that district. There is one for the girls and one for  the boys. The boy from District 12, Peeta Mellark, is the bakers son. While the Hunger Games is happening, Peeta and Katniss become really good friends, and help each other live.

 

While they are competing in the Hunger Games  the book says what is happening all around which I find helpful because you know what’s going on. It says what the gamemakers are doing, what the mentor is doing, what all the contestants are doing, and all the stuff you would need to know.

If I were you, I would read to find who wins. I would recommend the book to kids 9 and older because of the violence. I would rate the book infinity stars, but I can’t. I guess I’ll just rate it 5 stars, which is the most I can do. I would rate it infinity stars because it was amazingly plotted, and the text was in the right order which gave you a good picture of the book. It made me want to read more and more, and when I was done, I was sad.  You should also watch the movie after you’ve read the book. If you liked the book as much as I did, you should read the second book, Catching Fire, and the third book Mockingjay.

 

 

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Jan
06
2014

Time Traviling Fashionista, by Bianca Turetsky

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The main character is Louise. She loves vintage fashion. Every year she gets invited to a vintage sale. In one dress in each sale takes her back to a different place in time. This book she finds herself the best friend of Marie Antoinette! She has to find away to get back with hurting anyone. This takes place in France and Connecticut. I liked this book but I thought it was to sad. If you like sad books read this. If you like this it is a series. I would  give this three stars.

Dec
21
2013

Scumble by Ingrid Law

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The book that I is finished is called Scumble by Ingrid Law. Scumble is a book for people who like fantasy. The book is about a family who has something called a savvy. A savvy is a magical power. Nobody knows that the family has powers. All of the family members get their powers at 13. But after they turn 13 some of the family gets soft and nice savvys and others destroy stuff. The book is basically about them mastering their special savvy. Scumble is the second book in the series and Savvy is the 1st. If I were to rate this book on a scale of 1 to 5…5 being the best it would be  off the charts.

Dec
20
2013

The Million Dollar Throw, By Mike Lupica

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This is an amazing book by an amazing author.  It’s about a boy Named Nate ‘Brady’ Brodie.  He is an extreme patriots fan and his idol is Tom Brady.  He is an eighth grader, lives in Massachusetts and is on his school football team.  He a star QB. The one thing nate really understands and feels comfortable is; well, is football.  He has two best friends: Malcolm (for football and hard times) and Addy (for everything+football and hard times). Addy and Nate go to ‘sportsstuff’ (like Models but with a memorabilia section) and with all the money Nate has been saving up for years… he buys a ball signed by Tom Brady.  It cost 500$.  Then Addy saw a sign that was about a ‘Million Dollar throw’ that would have the winner sand at the 30 yard line and throw a ball into a 20’’ hole in a big ‘sportsstuff’ logo.  It would happen at the Pats stadium at the ‘Thanksgiving Day Game.’  The requirements were you need to be at least 13, make a purchase 500$, get his parents signature and the kids own.  Addy practically made him sign the contract.

 

Mike Lupica made this into a long story bye having every detail, stretched out sentences, and doesn’t have anything about the throw until a few chapters into the book.

When the throw is happening is 3 chapters until the book is over.  I would rate this book 6 out of 5 stars (yes, 6).

 

Mike Lupica has lots of suspense in his books and I highly recommend him to sports fans because he does overall excellent writing and has many books about many sports.

Dec
20
2013

Time Squared, Julia Devillers and Jennifer Roy

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              Time Squared is about two twins named Emma and Payton. A lot of other people get them mixed up and the only person that can tell the difference is their friend Tess. Sometimes they pretend to be each other and nobody knows. The two girls go to N.Y.C. for different reasons, they are stuck with a mean chaperone and they trade places.

              There are a lot of obstacles in the way like two girls named Sydney and Jazmine that make fun of how they look alike.

                This would be a good story for people who like when the book gets all mixed up and after gets back in order.

            I would give this book 4 **** stars because it could be a little less mixed up and share the same information.