Category Archives: 2013-2014

Jun
03
2014

Crogan’s Vengeance by Chris Schweizer

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Crogan has a big problem. A pirate who Hates Crogan is the captain of Crogans ship and is  trying to kill Crogan. The setting of this book is Tortuga, another island, and Crogan’s ships. Actually, this book is really set in a random suburb because the author uses a framing device. A framing device is where you have two stories, usually someone is telling the story or thinking of it and the “framed” piece is the main part but the non-framed part is what’s really happening. Crogan is very acrobatic. There’s a reason he’s called “Catfoot” Crogan. He can swing from the crow’s nest on a rope in a semi circle and land next to the captain.imgres

 

Crogans old captain had a set of rules that keeps the pirates alive. For example one rule is not to plunder French ships because the pirates are helped by the French. A big event is when D’or (the new captain) decides to plunder a French ship so Crogan gets in trouble because too many people knew that Crogan was with D’or in a French island. That is also a problem because it means that D’or will give Crogan a bad reputation. Another important event is when the old captain give Tom Dander the small ship not D’or, his first mate because this makes D’or really mad. Theres a good quote from the old captain that helps prove my point. “In truth,I was surprised he didn’t throw thunder when I named Tom Dander captain ‘stead of him.”

I enjoyed this book a lot because it is good and has lots of action and suspense. Also, the story of Crogan is interesting because he starts as a man working for a crazy captain and ends up joining a pirate ship. I would recommend this book to people who like pirate adventures. I would also recommend this to people who like lots of action. I would rate this book ****4 stars out of five because it wasn’t that funny.

Jun
03
2014

Poached by Stuart Gibbs

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This book is a great book because: I love the characters and plot. This book is good for people who like realistic fiction and a mysterious plot. I love Stuart Gibbs so that is basically why I read this book.

The main character is Teddy Fitzroy but there are a lot of side characters that are really important. He is in middle school. His parents work at funjungle where most of the book happens. They live in Texas. Teddy is an outsider and of course outsiders lead to bullys and bullys lead to no good! Teddy is also not a very popular kid at his school. His best friend is always there for him, There friendship is very tight.

Teddy has always been pulling pranks on funjungle but this time he is forced to by Vance the bully. Large Marge is the zoo security, the general, and of course Teddy is her nemisis, because of all the pranks he has pulled.

But when a koala from australia goes missing and all the proof leads to Teddy… It is his job to proove to Marge and everybody else that it was not Teddy… or was it?

I rate this book 5***** stars because the plot is a great plot and as I mentioned I love Staurt Gibbs!

I reccomend this book to people who like Staurt Gibbs and some what like a mystery.

Jun
03
2014

My Best Frenemy by Julie Bowe

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The title of this book is My best Frenemy by Julie Bowe. The main character of this book is Ida May. The setting of this book is present. Ida May’s perfect best friend, Stacey Merriweather. Everyone loves Stacey!

 

All the girls get in big trouble after a truth or dare game. Ida doesn’t know if Stacey can help out now! This is from the beginning of the book when she is writing to her diary: “Dear Stella, How are you? I am fine. This is the first time I have written to you so here is a little background information.

  1. I am a girl.

  2. I am 12 minus 3. (get it?)

  3. I have bleu clair eyes.

  4. I do not have freckles.

  5. Or pierced ears.

  6. I really want to get pierced ears, but my parents say I have to wait until I’m old enough to take care of them. I’m not sure how old that will be, but I know it will have double digits.

  7. My best friend is Stacey Merriweather.

  8. My second is my sock monkey, george. Please don’t tell george he came in second.

  9. My regular friends are Randi, Brooke, Meeka, and Jolene.

  10. Jenna Drews (see page 1) is not exactly my regular friend. She used to be my enemy, but now she’s not exactly that either. I guess you could call her my frenemy.

  11. I don’t like writing much.

  12. I don’t like boys much either. Except for my dad. And Mr. Crow. Tom Sanders is okay too. He’s the only boy in my class who doesn’t burp on a regular basis.

  13. And maybe I like Quinn.

  14. A little.”

 

I enjoyed this book and I thought it was very dramay. So…I recommend this book to people that like those kinds of books. I rate this book three stars***because I am not into those dramay books that much but I still like them.

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Jun
03
2014

How to Rock Braces and Glasses by Meg Haston

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This book is about about a girl named Kacey Simon, the most popular girl at her school. She also is a journalist who only tells the truth. After she falls at her best friend’s(Molly Knight is her best friend) birthday party, braces and glasses have been thrust upon her. This is the worst thing that could happen to her because she is also given a lisp along with the braces. Now she can’t do her show! Her other best friends are Liv and Nessa. Now even her best friends turn on her. Kacey is now falling the social ladder.

How can Kacey get back up again? Well, political crazed old best friend, Paige Greene, decides to help her out. She is also given the spot as lead singer in a band run by the new kid, Zander. Paige and Zander are gonna try to get her back up there. But then it turns out that Molly has a crush on Zander. Things just keep getting worse. “I, Kacey Simon have a raging crush on a band geek!” See what I mean. It’s just getting worse.

I loved this book because, as you know from my previous reviews, I love 1st person books. Also because the way Meg Haston writes, it sounds like Kacey is so real, like she could go to LREI. I would recommend this to people who like realistic fiction. I would rate this ***** out of *****.

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Jun
03
2014

Dork Diaries (2)

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WARNING: DO NOT READ THIS IF YOU HAVE NOT READ THE FIRST OF THIS BOOK OF THIS SERIES!

imgresThis book is called Dork Diaries (2), by Rachel Renee Russell. It is about a girl named Nikki. She is a pretty low key nice girl. She is a pretty “normal” girl. When I say normal I mean that she does her homework, she gets mad, there is nothing really weird or particularly special about her. Nikki has two friends named Chloe and Zoey. Nikki, in the last book was new at her school and didn’t have any friends.

The worst part of Nikki’s life at school is a girl named Mackenzie. Mackenzie is always mean to Nikki. Nikki and Mackenzie have a crush on the same person so Mackenzie is always mean to her about it. Mackenzie is a big bully especially to people who don’t have as much as her. Nikki said in the book “ She should have scribbled I’M SO JEALOUS across her forehead” That was about Mackenzie.

I liked this book a lot because I can learn from Nikki because she is in middle school and I am going into middle school so I can kind of tell how middle school can end up. My favorite part of the book is when Mackenzie is jealous of Nikki because it shows that Nikki is an amazing person who can do as much or even more than Mackenzie can in life. My least favorite part of the book is anytime when Mackenzie is being mean to Nikki because Mackenzie doesn’t know what Nikki is capable of. I would rate this book 5 out of 5 stars *****

Jun
03
2014

The Greatest, Walter Dean Myers

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The Greatest byWalter Dean Myers is a great and fantastic biography about Muhammad Ali

 

This book is about Muhammad Ali Walter amazing and great life and how he becomes the Heavyweight champion. Muhammad Ali is not just any sports player, he is special and went through a lot of things such as being drafted into the army and growing up in louisiana.

I enjoyed this book so much because as all of you know I love sports and I love reading biographies about sports players. I like reading about sports players because they are not fiction and they do not slay dragons. Also one night I might be reading about them and the next night they might score 50 points.

My favorite quote from Muhammad Ali is “Float like a butterfly sting like a bee.” Because of how descriptive and braggy it is about how he plays, He is very elegant and can move swift and speedy but can also give you a good blow in the face if you are not looking. And that describes his quote.imgres-1

I would rate this book 5 stars out of 5 because of the great story telling by the author

Jun
03
2014

Smile by Raina Telgemeier

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The main character is Raina. She is smart and a worry bug. She has a lot of friends and a younger brother and a younger sister. They annoy her very much. She has a mom and a dad.

She is liking school with all her friends until she needs… BRACES! But I don’t mean just braces. I mean CAVITY’S AND RETAINERS AND SURGERY AND BLOOD AND TEETH BEING PULLED.

 

For so many years. Every 2 weeks she goes to the dentist. Finally when middle school ends she gets excited to go to a different high school with no friends to start a new life. But then she sees all her friends. She goes to the same highschool as people she wanted to get away from. Everyone is mean. Including her friends. She has to go to highschool. What about college?

I loved the book so much! I would give it 5 ***** out of 5***** . You should read it. I recommend this book to people who like DRAMA, FRIENDSHIP, REALISTIC FICTION.

There new book is coming out if you like this one. SISTERS!

 

Jun
03
2014

Legend By Marie Lu

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The main characters in Legend are June Iparis and Daniel Altan Wing (Day). Day is the most wanted criminal in the republic. The republic doesn’t know what he looks like or what his fingerprint is. That’s what makes him the most wanted criminal. He has done a lot of bad things against the colonies. Day is part of a poor family that lives in a slum sector. Day is really protective of his family which includes his Mom, his older brother John, and his younger brother Eden.

As for June. She is the most treasured person (a prodigy) because she got a trial score of 1500. The trial is a test that you must take when you are 10 years old. In the trial you can score a 0-1500. June was the only person to get a 1500. Getting a 1500 is rare. June is trying to hunt Day down because Day killed her brother Metias.

I would recommend this book to people who like to be on their toes because there are a lot of close calls between June and Day. I would rate this book 5 out of 5 stars because what I just said before. Look at Beckett’s review for different information.

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Jun
03
2014

The Lost Hero by Rick Riordan

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REMINDER: IF YOU HAVE READ MY LAST BOOK REVIEW, YOU WILL KNOW MOST OF THE WEIRD WORDS IN THIS BOOK REVIEW! (So I recommend reading it before this.)

 

 

The Lost Hero by Rick Riordan is about Jason Grace son of Jupiter (Zeus), Piper McLean daughter of Aphrodite, and Leo Valdez son of Hephaestus. After finding out that their coach (Coach Hedge) is a satyr (a goat from the waist down), they go to Camp Half Blood with Annabeth (girlfriend of Percy Jackson and daughter of Athena) and Butch (son of Iris the Rainbow Goddess). The problem is that Hera is kidnapped and she needs to be saved before the Winter Solstice. The setting is Camp Half Blood and everywhere that Jason, Piper, and Leo go on the quest, to save Hera, who is the wife of Zeus and queen of the gods.

 

Jason is confused. He has absolutely no idea who the people are next to him or where he is. He thinks that the girl next to him is very pretty and the boy next to him looks very busy building something. Piper has a secret. She has had very weird dreams about a greek giant named Enceladus who is threatening to kidnap and kill her dad unless she does what he says. Leo is excited. He can’t wait to go to the Grand Canyon with his best friends.

 

After Jason, Piper, and Leo find out that their parents are gods, they are sent out to save Hera from a monster that will perhaps destroy the world… There are a lot of major events like finding long lost siblings, encountering people who are supposed to be dead, and monsters of course!

 

Jason, Piper, and Leo have to make some very, very, VERY big decisions. Jason has to decide if he should trust these strangers (Piper and Leo) or not. Piper has to decide whether to betray her friends (like Enceladus said) or to save Hera. Here is what Piper said, “We have to talk. I don’t want to hide anything from you guys anymore. Three nights before the Grand Canyon trip, I had a dream vision-a giant, telling me my father had been taken hostage. He told me I had to cooperate, or my dad would be killed.” Leo has to decide whether or not to tell Jason and Piper his big secret that I can’t tell you or it will ruin the book for you.

 

I enjoyed this book because there are a lot of exciting things that happen, for example: When the storm spirits first arrive at the Grand Canyon. I also enjoyed this book because the whole time you have no idea where Percy is so it makes you think a lot. Lastly,  I enjoyed this book because you can really relate to the characters even if Piper’s dad is held captive by a giant from greek mythology. I can relate to it because when my mom or dad go on a long trip, I miss them. I know that is a weird relation but it’s true.

 

I would recommend this book to people who like/liked the Olympians Series because it is the follow up series. I also would recommend this book to people who like magical realism, action, adventure, and being able to relate to the book because it is one of those books where it sucks you in.


I rate this book out of .

Jun
03
2014

The Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman

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The Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman

Book review by Jack Lille Yerington

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The book I have been reading is called The Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman. The main character’s name is Nobody Owens (Bod for short). This book shows Bod’s life from when he was just a couple months old to when he is eight (so far).The setting of the book is the graveyard. He is living in the graveyard because his parents were killed by an assassin named Jack. He is being hidden by Silas (his guardian) and his adopted parents Mr. and Mrs. Owens. Bod can do something unique, he can see ghosts and everything dead. Every chapter of The Graveyard Book is a cliffhanger. Bod is curious, which leads to problems. For example, once he took his friend into a cave, and then almost died in the cave.

Bod has a lot of adventures in this book. Once, he noticed  some ghouls in the graveyard and they started talking to him. They talked for a little while and they finally persuaded him into going to Ghûlheim. Ghûlheim is where all kinds of creatures live, the ghouls live there, Night-Gaunts live there, Hellhounds live there, and much more. Bod was taken by the ghouls and put into a sack. He found a screw in the sack and started poking a hole in the sack. A Hellhound attacked the bag and Bod fell out. He was almost killed by the Hellhound but, he cried help in Night-Gaunt and was saved by one.

 

As I said earlier, Bod took his friend Scarlett into a cave, they were gone for a long time. Bod’s friend’s parents got worried and called the police. When she and Bod came out they were very relieved, however, they wouldn’t let her go to the graveyard again. She was allowed to go back to the graveyard one more time to say goodbye because she was moving. The last time she saw Bod Bod asked, “Go where?” Scarlett answered, “Scotland. There’s a university there. For Dad to teach particle physics.” Scarlett didn’t want to say goodbye to Bod but she had to.

I enjoyed this book because it was suspenseful. This book has ghosts and ghouls and more creatures, and I love that. It also has mystery which I really like. I would recommend this book to kids who are in 3rd grade and up. I would also recommend this book to kids who love mystery. I would give this book