Category Archives: 2014-2015

Jan
05
2015

The Bridge to Terabitha by Katherine Paterson

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Bridge to Terabithia

 

The book I read was Bridge to Terabithia, the author of this book was Katherine Paterson. In this story there are two main characters. They are Jess Aarons and Leslie Burke. Jess really wants to become the fastest kid in the fifth grade. But his plan gets thwarted when the new kid strolls on to the boy’s side and demands to run in the boys race. Later Jess’ desire to be the fastest kid is not really important thanks to the new kid Leslie Burke. She just moved in near Jess. Jess and Leslie are not close in the beginning of the book. But then they become king and queen of Terabithia, Terabithia is Leslie and Jess’s kingdom. This book takes place in Lark Creek, in the early 1970s.

I thought a part that was most interesting was when Leslie and Jess created Terabithia, their imaginary kingdom, when they crossed the dried creek on a rope. I thought that was interesting because it was so creative how they came up with all their rules and structures. I also thought it was extremely important when they made Terabithia. The reason that part was important because it was the start of a great friendship,and important bravery for Jess. I think Leslie is brave because when it was pouring she tried to get across the flooding creek when the rope could break to protect Terabithia from disaster. She is also determined because she kept trying to talk to Jess to become friends when he was mad at her for winning the race. She is really caring to Jess because for Christmas she gave Jess paints and she knew that Jess always wanted paints because Jess really like drawing.

I really liked this book because I always enjoy tough friendships. In the book the tough friendship between Jess and Leslie was when they raced and Leslie won. It was difficult for Leslie because Jess was mad at Leslie because she became the fastest kid and he wanted to be that person.I would recommend this book to fourth graders because it is the right amount of sadness and happiness. Also it is a good creative book. There aren’t any TV shows, movies, or books that I know of that are similar (but you can ask Dan). I would rate this book 3 stars ***.   

Jan
05
2015

Toby Wheeler Eighth-Grade Benchwarmer by Thatcher Heldring

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I read Toby Wheeler Eighth-Grade Benchwarmer by Thatcher Heldring. The main character’s name is Toby Wheeler. The story takes place mostly in Pilchuck Junior High in Seattle. Toby loves basketball but has never played on an actual team. When Toby is playing at the rec center one day, his friend JJ points out that the coach for their school’s travel team is there. JJ is determined to make the roster. Toby meets the coach and the coach gives him a flyer that is his ticket onto the team if he wants to play. Toby doesn’t care so much about the team; he just wants to keep up with his friend JJ. The plot is about how Toby learns to be a good teammate even when he’s sitting on the bench.

 

 

Toby really wants to be on the court in a big moment in a game and when he finally gets to, he realizes that he should just play hard whatever the chance you get, big or small. Toby makes friends with the coach’s daughter, Megan, and he thinks that that friendship is making things worse with his coach, effecting his playing time. It’s not. Toby is just not playing up to his coach’s expectations. Toby thinks Megan wants to be more than friends so he writes her a note that makes the situation even worse. Megan then turns away from Toby. Meanwhile, JJ has a new friend in his band named Steven. Steven’s sister Valerie and JJ have a thing for each other. On Halloween, Toby wants to go trick-or-treating and JJ goes off with his new friends instead. Losing Megan and JJ, Toby feels sad and thinks he has no friends. When he first joins the team, Toby is overconfident in his basketball skills and is surprised to see that he’s not a starter or a key sub. He’s a reserve (benchwarmer). Toby is strong because at the end he’s able to bounce back and with hard work becomes a key sub. Toby is nervous when he wants to ask Megan to the school dance and his nerves get the best of him.

 

 

I liked this book because it was about a sport I play and also because the scenes with the basketball team are hilarious and funny. There’s one part where Toby does an imitation of his coach. It’s like a cold, it’s contagious, everybody on the team starts copying it. Toby’s old rec center rival Vinny Pesto plays for the league champions of the last three years and Toby is determined to beat him for his second time ever. They have lots of trash-talking battles which are crazy. For example: “That’s a nice costume, Pesto. I didn’t know they sold dog-butt masks.” I would recommend this book to sports fans because it is packed with basketball action. I would also recommend it to people who like stories about friendship because this book has friends and frenemies. This book is similar to some of Matt Christopher’s books which are about sports and friendship. I would give this book a rating of 4 stars on a 5-star scale. I can’t give it a full five stars because at some points there is too much happening and it gets a little complicated.

 

                                                              ****

Reviewed by Drew Kaufman

Jan
05
2015

Gabriel Finley and the Raven’s Riddle by George Hagen

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My book is called Gabriel Finley and the Ravens Riddle by George Hagen. The main character is Gabriel. His friends are included a lot too and they are very important in the story. They are Pamela, Abby, and Somes. The book is mainly about Gabriel and his friends traveling to an underground city, Aviopolis. They are trying to find Gabriel’s father who disappeared a long time ago. The setting of the book is Aviopolis and believe it or not, the cemetery. Aviopolis is an underground city of birds, specifically ravens, even more specifically, valravens. Valravens are evil ravens.

One of the many interesting parts of the book is when the ravens greet each other by asking riddles. If the raven laughs after the riddle, they are good old ravens, if the don’t laugh they are the well known, evil valravens. Another important and interesting thing is when they are in Aviopolis and then you have so much suspense about if they are going to find and bring back Gabriel’s father. Those are just two of the many interesting things in this amazing book. Three adjectives to describe Gabriel would be Brave, curious, and selfless. He is brave because he went with only his friends (no parents) to Aviopolis (a city full of evil birds) to find his father.  He is curious because he actually went and was being curious about where his father went many years ago. He would be selfless because when he had a chance to do something that he could be greedy with he didn’t use it on himself or be greedy with it, but he gave it up for his friends. I could give so many more adjectives to describe Gabriel besides these. But these are the ones that really stood out.

I enjoyed this book because it is an adventure and mystery book. I also really loved this book because when Pamela got the idea to use the raven as the violin, it was an amazing idea. Another example is when the author leaves you hanging about whether they found the father or not. I would recommend this book because many people like mysteries and adventures. Also because it is a very descriptive book, and that makes it easier to understand the story. I think this book is like the movie by Tim Burton  A Nightmare Before Christmas because they both go to a different world and they experience different things than what they are used to. I would give this book FIVE STARS! This is an amazing book, and if you like mysteries and adventures you will love this amazing book!

 

Jan
05
2015

Stay Alive Flood by Joseph Monninger

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searchThe book I read is called Stay Alive Flood by Joseph Monninger. It is the fourth book in the series called Stay Alive. The main characters of the book are Day, Kuru, Ellis, and Carmen. The book takes place in the apartment building that all the kids live in.They are stuck in 10 feet of water from a massive storm that floods the building.The kids have to devise a plan for them to survive the flood and get out alive.

At the beginning of the book the kids barely know each other but once they all realize that there is a flood in their town they join together to find a way out.

In the basement of their apartment building the owner’s son keeps 7 pythons as pets. When the flood occurs the pythons escape from their cages and are set free.

Carmen is wounded by one of the pythons when it wrapped around her neck while she was sleeping. All the kids felt  bad for Carmen and let her rest while they were still trying to find a way out . Day was my favorite character in the book because he’s smart, really nice and athletic. Day was good at chess which shows that he is smart, nice because he took really good care of his younger brother Ellis, Carmen when she was hurt, and played a lot of sports showing he was athletic. By the end of the book  all the kids learned a very valuable lesson in friendship and caring for one other.

I did not like this book because I thought there was too much talking and conversation among the main characters and not a lot of action. Also I did not like the ending because I wanted there to be more action. I would not recommend this book because I found it boring. I did think though that the idea of the story was good and liked the parts where all the kids were helping each other. The book and movie that pops into my head that feels similar to me is the book called The Lost City Of Ember. This book was also about a storm and how two kids had to escape by boat.

 

 

I would give this book 2 stars out of 5.

 

Dec
18
2014

Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets by J.K. Rowling

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The book that I am reading is Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets by J. K. Rowling. The main characters are Harry Potter, Ron Weasley and Hermione Granger. The problem in my book is people are getting petrified and the Chamber of Secrets has opened, which has not been opened in 60 years. The book takes place at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry and the time is the present.

Harry Potter is going back to Hogwarts for his 2nd year, but before he goes back a house elf named Dobby comes to warn Harry not to go back to Hogwarts. When Harry tries to get on platform 9 ¾ Dobby does not let Harry, so him and Ron take a flying car to Hogwarts and almost get killed by a tree. Later on, a girl gets taken into the Chamber of Secrets; they know that because there is a blood message on the wall telling everyone. Harry and Ron go to the chamber to save the girl and take the stupid teacher with them. he is stupid because he thinks he is so great, but he is the worst wizard in the world!  I am not going to give away the end; you have to read the book!

I loved the book because it is awesome! No, I am still not going to give away the ending! I think Gilderoy Lockhart is a very funny git. I think Dobby is also very funny and awesome at the same time. I would recommend this series to everyone because it is by the best author in the world. All the books teach you something. What I learned was that I really like Harry Potter . You can choose what you learned from the book. I rate this book five stars!

Dec
17
2014

Wonder by R.J. Palacio

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The book Wonder is about a boy named August who is deformed. It was written by  R.J. Palacio. In the book there is a kid named August who is deformed. He was getting home schooled up to middle school but his parents decided for him to go to a real school. Most of the book takes place in Beecher Prep (his school). So when he gets to school a lot of kids are mean to him. He had an old friend named Christopher. They both like Star Wars, and started growing a braid in the back of their head. Other then his deformity, August  is totally normal.

At school August meets some really nice people. Like his friends Summer and Jack Will. Throughout the school year people get adjusted  to August’s face, but most of the kids still did not want to be friends with him. Throughout the book the perspective of the character changes so you can see what all the other people think about him. The author has divided these into parts and there are seven parts in the book, but I actually have a special edition that has eight parts and the eighth part is the bully’s perspective. 

I really liked the book because it was super  interesting seeing how he gets through life. I also liked it because it is hard for me to find good books and this was amazing. If you have a hard time finding good books you should read this book. Even if you do not have a hard time finding books you should read it. I would give it a *****star rating.

 

 

Dec
12
2014

The People of Sparks by Jeanne Duprua

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The book I read is The People of Sparks by Jeanne DuPrau. This book is the second book of Ember. The main characters of the book are Lina and Doon. They are both twelve and Lina has a baby sister named Poppy  (if you did not read the City of Ember, STOP reading this review  and go read the first book otherwise some things get spoiled! Linas mom and dad died because The City of Ember is underground and Linas parents were trying to get out so Lina lived with Poppy and her grandmother but Linas grandmother gets sick and dies (all in the first book). She moved in with Mrs. Murdo who is like a mom to them . The book is mainly about how at the end of The City of Ember they come out  of the ground and look for a city. They find a city called “Sparks” that they join and try to share the world. They are trying to avoid war they are having food shortages and not much  supplies to live on. They have these people called Roamers who go out to new places and bring things back to use they trade at the Sparks Plaza they get things like pots and pans matches candles cloth or clothing magnets and games seeds to plant food and things like that… The setting in the book is in Sparks a very naturey place and lots of green, not many homes, fallen apart furniture and not much that we have now.

I found out that the book is in the future and the book leaves a lot of clues why like they mention that in the  past they had moving pictures called movies and now they don’t also they had things that take pictures called a camera and now they have none of that stuff now and if you read the book you will find out all the clues.  In the book the People of Sparks have a  special weapon it reveals the weapon at the end of the book.I know what the weapon is but I don’t want to spoil. One of my favorite parts of the book is when someone from either Ember or Sparks throws tomatoes at the supplies shed and then it starts to get tense between them and other things start to happen….. Three adjectives that describe Lina and Doon are adventures, nice and curious they were the ones that lead everyone out of Ember so the are like the leaders of Ember.

I really really like this book I liked the first one and the second. Something I really like about these books are that they have mysteries and you have to find them out. I would recommend this book if you like adventures books. Also if you like funny books this is a good book for you because the Emberitties don’t know what a lot of things are that the people of Sparks have because were they come from has barley  anything that we have now they don’t know what these things are like lemons,trucks,apricots, and lots more. Some other books that are like this book are Percy Jackson and Harry Potter they are just a little similar the only thing is that this book has no magic and is a lot shorter. I like this book better than Percy Jackson and Harry Potter.  Out of 1-5 I would give it a 4 ½ but you should read it!!!

Dec
12
2014

From The Mixed-up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler by E.L. Konigsburg

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The book I read is From The Mixed-up Files of Mrs.Basil E.Frankweiler by E.L. Konigsburg. The main character is Claudia. The book is about Claudia and her little brother Jamie running away. The book mainly takes place in New York at the Metropolitan Museum of Art but it never tells you what year it is but I’m guessing it takes place in the late 50s or the 60s because they had really cheap things like a hot fudge Sunday cost 27 cents and back then things were cheaper.

Claudia is the oldest out of her three brothers so she get the most chores and least amount of money in her allowance and she wanted to go on an adventure. So she goes to the Metropolitan Museum of Art with her brother Jamie and they decided to learn everything about everything there. Once it was Jamie’s turn to choose so he chose the Italian Renaissance because he thought it sounded important and when they  were walking through the Italian Renaissance they saw a line of people and they went to the line while the line was moving they saw a statue. Claudia wanted to know everything about the statue.The statue was a statue of an angel and people were trying to see if Michelangelo made the statue or not. So Claudia and Jamie wanted see if it was Michelangelo who made it or not so they found a clue and wrote a letter to the Museum but the Museum said that they already saw that clue and need more evidance that it was him. So Claudia and Jamie go to Mrs.Basil’s house and Mrs.Basil was the person who sold the statue to the Museum. Mrs. Basil tells  Claudia and Jamie that they have one hour to look for the files that say if he did the statue or did not do the statue.

I liked the book because I think it was a good book for me.  It also had like mystery and adventure that I like. I recommend this book to people who like mystery and a touch of adventure. I would also recommend this book because of  the style of the words they used are descriptive words and sentences which I personally liked . I think this book is different than other books because I have never read a book about someone running away and hiding in a museum before. I would give this book four out of five stars because it was a really good book but I don’t thinks it’s so good  it will  make me want to read it again and again.

 

Dec
12
2014

Son by Lois Lowery

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The book I read is called Son, by Lois Lowry. There are four books in the series, number one is called The Giver, number two is Gathering Blue, three is Messenger and the last one is Son. The main characters are: Claire, Jonas, Gabe, and Trademaster. In the book there are Elders, who are the leaders of the community. Their community is a place without freedom, the people never get to choose or pick anything. There are a ton of rules. Every year there is a day called were a group of twelves get assigned a job to do, and a girl named Claire got assigned Birth mother which is when a group of twelve girls give birth to a baby three times then they get out of the Birthing unit and they get to rest for a lot of time. Claire gives birth to her first baby and her eyes are covered up in a mask so she can’t see the baby come out of her body, but the people that are working at the birthing unit call her baby a failure to thrive. So Claire gets sent to the Hatchery where they take care of fishes and their eggs. Secretly, Claire goes out to see her baby and pretend she doesn’t know it’s her baby. Once birth mother’s have their  baby, their baby gets sent off to new parents. So Claire goes every day to see Gabriel her son. One day a person named Jonas runs away from the community, which is against the rules. He takes Gabriel with him, and now Claire has her heart set on finding him.

One very interesting part of the book is when the author describes how Claire felt when she was birthing Gabriel. It’s interesting because I  would describe Claire as heart set, strong, and loving. I really enjoyed reading Son and the whole series.

It’s kind of a mix between fiction and non fiction, but it’s more fiction. I also enjoyed it because it’s also educational at points. I would recommend this series to 3rd grade and up, this series is actually for young adults. I would rate this book four stars.

 

Dec
12
2014

Ramona’s World by Beverly Cleary

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Ramona’s World is mainly about a girl named Ramona. This book is by Beverly Cleary. Ramona is just beginning fourth grade but her teacher m.s Meacham is not very nice. She makes a really good friend named Daisy. Daisy helps Ramona through fourth grade. Ramona has an older sister named Beezus. She is not always very nice. This book takes place from September-February. These are some places this book takes place: Daisy’s house, Ramona’s house, school, and the park.

The three most interesting parts of the book for me were when Ramona had a play date at Daisy’s house and there was a little accident. And when Ramona had to watch her little sister Roberta. I liked this part of the book because she fixed the problem right before her mom got home. I also really liked the part where it was picture day. This reminds me that in second grade I made a ridiculous face! Ramona is really responsible because in the book she watches her sister and her friend’s cat all by herself for one half hour while her mom went to pick up her sister ramona. Ramona is very pleasant because in the book she makes Valentines for her whole class. Ramona is very bold because on the first day of school she raised her hand to share what she had wrote before anyone else.

I recommend this book to other people because I thought it was funny in some parts and I enjoyed the drama in the book. It was funny how Ramona got into so much trouble but she figured out how to fix it right in time! I thought it is cool how in the beginning Ramona was enemies with this girl but at the end they were good friends! I would also recommend this book because it is very sweet. It is about her family and friends.  The book reminds me of the book Parent Trap they are both about girls that fight a lot. And the movie Matilda because they both take place at school.

I would rate this book four stars!